Alberta pharmacists gain power to prescribe

Alberta pharmacists will be able to prescribe drugs and give vaccines under regulatory changes passed Wednesday by the provincial government.

Starting this fall, pharmacists who complete a training program will be able to give and refill prescriptions without a doctor's authorization for a wide range of chronic illnesses, such as high blood pressure and asthma.

They will also be able to administer vaccines.

Certain addictive drugs, such as narcotics, will still require a doctor's approval for prescription refills.

The president of Alberta College of Pharmacists said the new rules will make health-care delivery more efficient.

Karen Wolfe said patients with chronic illnesses use 80 per cent of the health-care system's resources. She says pharmacists are in the best position to help those patients.

However, the province's College of Physicians and Surgeons criticized the regulatory changes. Spokeswoman Kelly Eby said doctors and pharmacists have held numerous meetings about the issue, but pharmacists haven't proven they can safely prescribe drugs.

Alberta Health and Wellness spokesman Sean Beardow disagreed, saying pharmacists are well educated when it comes to drug therapy.

It will be up to a pharmacist to decide if a patient is too sick to treat and should see a doctor instead, Beardow added.

Elsewhere in Canada, pharmacists in British Columbia and Saskatchewan can prescribe emergency contraception, but nothing else.