SOUTH Australian pharmacist, Lauren Cortis, will lead the State's Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) pharmacy service when euthanasia is legalised there on 31 Jan 2023.
Cortis will lead a team of three senior pharmacists and a pharmacy technician, who will be based at Adelaide's Repat Health Precinct, and will be responsible for the safe supply of euthanasia medications to eligible patients, In Daily reported.
Having joined SA Health earlier this year as the lead pharmacist in the End of Life Care team, Cortis was involved in developing the State's medication protocols.
"The pharmacy service will be the single supplier of the medication for all patients accessing voluntary assisted dying throughout South Australia," she said.
"We will be also responsible for educating the patients, their caregivers and the contact person who's responsible for returning any unused medication once the person has died -- or if they decide not to continue with the pathway.
"We will also be the central support for medical practitioners -- helping them adapt to this new area of practice."
SA Health Minister, Chris Picton, said the State was using similar frameworks to those used in Victoria and Western Australia, where VAD laws are already in place.
"We've learnt from Victoria and WA how important it is to have people whose job it is to help people through the pathway, through the legislation, because it can be a complex piece of legislation to navigate with all the 70 different safeguards that are part of the legislation here in SA," he said.
"These care navigators will assist people wanting to go through this scheme, making sure that they appropriately go through all the elements of the legislation before the voluntary assisted dying drug is administered."
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