Prescribers and Pharmacists

Corresponding Responsibilities for Patient Well-Being

In the big picture it may have been a good idea, but the way it was implemented became a problem. Prescribers and pharmacists have little time as it is, and for them to take away their time to engage in a national policy and doing it on each and every prescription creates a backlog. It creates a hostile environment between the prescriber and the pharmacist where it really should be a team effort.  So these were some of the negative outcomes of a policy that was intended to do good.

Pharmacists have a corresponding responsibility under the Controlled Substances Act, and they have the ability to not fill a prescription even though it’s been prescribed if it’s not consistent with the public health interest.  But we would hope of course that both the prescriber and the pharmacist would be on the same team with the same goals.