Pharmacists to Prescribe Birth Control Pills, Vaccinations, Antibiotics Without Doctors

Patients will be able to skip a visit to the doctor to access contraceptives, vaccinations, and antibiotics. Philippe Huguen/Getty Images

The New South Wales (NSW) government has announced it will allow pharmacists in the state to prescribe medication such as hormonal contraceptives, antibiotics, and travel vaccinations from Nov. 14 without requiring approval from doctors in a move to reduce pressure on the health system.

Premier Dominic Perrottet said the proposed pharmacy reforms would expand the number of medications pharmacists can administer.

“By giving the community greater access to medications and vaccines through their local pharmacist, we are taking pressure off our hardworking general practitioners (GP) by giving them more time for patients with other medical issues,” Perrottet said in a statement.

“We are stepping up to provide yet another innovative policy to improve the lives of people by offering more support for primary care.”

Health Minister Brad Hazzard said that pharmacists’ role in providing vaccinations during the pandemic has been beneficial.

“While some in the primary care sector have firm views on the role of pharmacists, their positive contribution to the management of the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that they are able to deliver more for their communities,” Hazzard said.

Meanwhile, the Australian Medical Association argues that while vaccination is a valuable public health measure, expanding the role of pharmacists to administer drugs directly for other conditions can be dangerous when prescribed out of the context of the patient’s history.

“The process of diagnosis and appropriate, safe prescribing, and importantly not prescribing, in the context of someone’s entire clinical picture is critical,” the President of AMA in NSW, Dr Michael Bonning, said in a statement.

“Where there is an established clinical relationship, such as with a GP, then there is the opportunity to have the hard conversation of when not to prescribe a medication.”

Hormonal Contraception and Mood Disorders

The Therapeutic Goods Administration recently recommended that the oral contraceptive pill remain a prescription-only medication for safety reasons.

However, some states are pushing ahead with downgrading it to pharmacist medication via a political process rather than through an evidence-based process, Bonning says.

The NSW reform will allow pharmacists to prescribe contraception pills, scrapping the need for a GP visit.

“Patient safety should be paramount, not pharmacy profits,” Bonning said.

However, a recent peer-reviewed study showed a significant relationship between taking oral contraceptive pills and mood disorders such as depression.

“The link between taking oral contraceptive pills and depression may be attributed to the amount and type of progestogen contained in oral contraceptive pills,” the researchers wrote.

In a longitudinal study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, researchers found among 475,802 women in Denmark that hormonal contraception use doubles the risk of suicide attempt and triples the risk of suicide.