Pill to stay on script in NZ
July 8, 2015
The New Zealand Pharmacy Guild
says it’s “extremely disappointed”
at a decision by the government’s
Medicines Classification Committee
not to downschedule oral
contraceptives.
The proposal, which had been
strongly supported by the Guild,
had aimed to meet community
needs, reduce demand on GPs and
boost the role of pharmacists in the
primary healthcare system.
The minutes of the committee
meeting cited a long history of
evaluation of the matter in relation
to leading contraceptives and
extensive consultation with a total
of 13 pre-meeting comments, eight
in favour of the reclassification, and
five against - some from GP groups.
Practice nurses were proposed
as a better alternative and would
avoid the problem of patient care
fragmentation.
NZ Pharmacy Guild ceo Lee
Hohaia said the reclassification
“would have better utilised
our pharmacist workforce and
taken the pressure off general
practitioners, while providing a
convenient, frontline health service
to New Zealand women.”
It also closed the door on some
women, who normally never access
the health system, being given
medical help, she said.
“It is more convenient for these
women to receive an initial supply
of oral contraceptives from a
pharmacist than waiting to visit a
doctor,” Hohaia said.
Perhaps ironically, pharmacists in
New Zealand are able to prescribe
sildenafil after appropriate training
(PD 20 Oct 14).
The Guild was also disappointed,
but not surprised, at a decision
not to reclassify nitrofurantoin as a
restricted medicine.
The reclassification would have
allowed pharmacists to supply a
patient presenting with a urinary
tract infection even if they had
taken antibiotics in the previous six
months, with current restrictions
often resulting in treatment delays.
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