The AMA has written to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for advice on the impact of the North Queensland Pharmacy Scope of Practice Trial proposal on Australia’s scheduling system and clarification of the TGA’s position on the proposed trial.
In a joint letter sent to the TGA, the Presidents of the AMA Federal and the AMA Queensland underline that the proposed trial would completely undermine the purpose and function of the Poisons Standard if States are allowed to decide that Schedule 4 medicines can be treated as Schedule 3.
The AMA highlighted to the TGA that the proposed trial will see participating pharmacists in 37 Local Government Areas in North Queensland diagnosing a number of medical conditions, then prescribing and dispensing medications without any reference or collaboration with medical professionals. The AMA expressed its concerns that this trial will lead to significant misdiagnosis of potentially serious conditions while fragmenting care and has the potential to undermine efforts to control antibiotic prescribing. Noting that pharmacists will have a direct financial incentive to prescribe antibiotics and may also be more susceptible to patient requests for antibiotics when they are not clinically indicated.
This trial will authorise pharmacists to prescribe and dispense the contraceptive pill despite the TGA’s decision of last year that prescribing the contraceptive pill should only be undertaken by Doctors. Redefining the scope of practice of pharmacists blurs the boundaries between S3 and S4 medicines, setting a dangerous precedent for the entire schedule.
The AMA pointing out that Australians quite reasonably expect to be seen and assessed by a doctor in most circumstances when presenting for a diagnosis and medical advice/treatment, and the proposal risks patient safety while providing no obvious benefit other than to pharmacy owners.
The AMA view being that patients are best served by the continuing, comprehensive and holistic care that is provided by general practitioners. Enabling autonomous prescribing by pharmacists fractures this relationship and undermines our model of primary care.
The AMA believes this trial should be prevented from ever taking place.
