Innovation is usually a good thing, particularly when it comes to improving Canada’s unwieldy public health system. Some experiments, however, risk doing more harm than good.Legislators in Quebec are preparing a strategic shift to ease the mounting pressure on front-line care, with Bill 41 aiming to give pharmacists more power to provide therapeutic services.
Under the proposed law, pharmacists would be permitted to renew and adjust prescriptions, substitute medications, write prescriptions for minor, previously-diagnosed conditions, order lab tests, and administer drugs. Rather than clogging up the waiting areas of clinics and hospitals, waiting to see a doctor, people suffering from minor ailments will be able to pop over to the nearest drug store for a consultation with a health professional. It’s about time pharmacists were recognized as more than mere pill counters, something that happened long ago in countries like France.