On April 1, 2018, the College’s amendments to the Pharmacy Operations and Drug Scheduling Act Bylaws came into effect. The first pharmacies to complete pharmacy licence renewals under the new requirements were those whose licences expired on June 30, 2018. They marked the beginning of the year-long transition period, which ended with pharmacies whose licence expires in May 2019.
On November 1, 2018, new reporting requirements for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) came into effect. The new federal regulations and provincial standards identified the reporting requirements for pharmacists, physicians, and nurse practitioners.
The College would like to remind pharmacies and pharmacy professionals involved in sterile compounding that the second phase of the Model Standards for Pharmacy Sterile Compounding should be completed by May 2019.
Compliance packs, more commonly known as “Blister Packs”, are a useful tool to increase medication adherence in patients experiencing difficulties with medication management.
However, due to the often-complex nature of the medication regimens; the potential for frequent therapy changes; and the multi-step process required for dispensing in compliance packs, they also introduce increased risks for errors to occur. Registrants need to be aware of these increased risks, and how to prevent errors from occurring for medications dispensed in this manner.
Since the introduction of the new ownership requirements under the Pharmacy Operations and Drug Scheduling Act (PODSA), the College has been collecting information about Direct Owners and Indirect Owners (directors, officers and shareholders) as part of the annual pharmacy license renewal process.
Up until this point, information about trustees has not been collected, as trustees were not initially considered to be indirect owners and, as such, were not subject to the ownership requirements under PODSA.
ActionADE is a clinician and researcher driven software application that will allow care providers in hospitals to document patients’ adverse drug events (ADEs) and communicate patient-specific information about ADEs to the community via PharmaNet. By presenting patient-specific information about ADEs, we aim to prevent the re-dispensation of medications that previously caused harm.
Earlier this year, there was a bit of a buzz on Twitter regarding pharmacies that sell homeopathic products. An Ontario health researcher caused quite a stir, criticizing a pharmacist for recommending a homeopathic product to treat her child’s fever.
During Pharmacy Practice Reviews, Compliance Officers have come across a number of pharmacies that have not reported changes to the layout of their pharmacies after undergoing renovation. The College requires that the current layout of a pharmacy be consistent with the pharmacy diagram that the College has on record.
In 2018, Dr. Martin Andresen, Professor of Criminology and Director of the Institute for Canadian Urban Research Studies at Simon Fraser University, conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the College’s security provisions and found strong evidence supporting the relationship between the reduction in pharmacy robberies and the security measures.
This year UBC’s Continuing Pharmacy Professional Development (CPPD) celebrates its 30th annual Update Conference.
This CPPD Conference will allow pharmacy professionals and all health care providers to enhance and update their knowledge and skills. In doing so, attendees will be able to improve patient care, medication management, and public safety.
Pharmacists play an important role in supporting patients in making informed choices about their care. This means that pharmacists can have a role in counselling patients related to cannabis use, including drug interactions, management of side effects, potential addictive behaviours and contraindications. This article provides an overview of medicinal versus recreational cannabis, drug interactions and factors to consider when evaluating patients.