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n Canada, in the province of Québec, a new era for pharmacists began on June 20: Law 41 comes into force, which authorizes them to carry out new activities, thus aligning users' opportunities with those of their fellow citizens in the province of Alberta, a pioneer in pharmacy services (Pharmacist33 February 27th).
These are the new tasks for which the pharmacist will be paid: renew a prescription; prescribe a drug where a diagnostic investigation is not necessary and for minor ailments; prescribe and interpret laboratory tests; correct a prescription; replace a drug if its supply is interrupted; administer a drug directly to explain the correct way to take it.
For the occasion, the Order of Pharmacists on its website, in the area dedicated to the public, has published a animated movie to explain in a clear and intuitive way what the new services will consist of. A press release then underlines how, before being able to provide the new services, pharmacists must follow a specific training course, consequently since there are more than 8,600 pharmacists in Québec, the Order anticipates citizens that the new services will probably not be disbursable immediately in all pharmacies, but will be progressively available upon completion of the regulatory training.
The innovations that will be introduced in Québec are the result of close collaboration between the Order of Pharmacists and the College of doctors of the province, aimed at achieving a better interdisciplinarity between the two categories of professionals. Satisfied the president of the Order of Pharmacists of Québec, Bertrand Bolduc, he commented thus «for several years pharmacists have had the ability to do more, there was simply no authorization. Previously, patients were sent to the emergency room every day for problems that the pharmacist could have taken care of. Now that a solid collaboration has been created between the Order and the College, access to treatment in complete safety will improve for patients".
Elisabetta Lucchesini – Tuesday, 23 June 2015 – Pharmacist33
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