The evidence shows pharmacist prescribing is nothing to fear

Greg Merlo

writer

Greg Merlo

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Primary Care Clinical Unit, The University of Queensland

Claim CPD for this activity

Educational Activities (EA)

0 hours

These are activities that expand general practice knowledge, skills and attitudes, related to your scope of practice.

Reviewing Performance (RP)

0 hours

These are activities that require reflection on feedback about your work.

Measuring Outcomes (MO)

0 hours

These are activities that use your work data to ensure quality results.

EA
0 minutes

These are activities that expand general practice knowledge, skills and attitudes, related to your scope of practice.

RP
0 minutes

These are activities that require reflection on feedback about your work.

MO
0 minutes

These are activities that use your work data to ensure quality results.

Greg Merlo

Prominent GP and former member of parliament Kerryn Phelps has entered the turf war between doctors and pharmacists over who gets to prescribe.

Pharmacy groups have long called for changes to allow pharmacists to prescribe specified medications, such as the oral contraceptive pill and antibiotics for urinary tract infections.

But Phelps argues allowing pharmacists to prescribe will lead to perverse incentives – where pharmacists prescribe inappropriately – because they have a financial interest in the sale of medicines.

Phelps has a point. Studies in countries where doctors have dispensing roles have found evidence of financial profits influencing prescribing behaviour.

Swiss study, for instance, found physician dispensing leads to a 34% increase in drug costs per patient, as doctors overprescribe and prescribe more expensive medications.

PASSWORD RESET

Forgot your password or password not working? Please enter your email address. You will receive an email with the link to set a new password.

Icon 2

NEXT LIVE Webcast

:
Days
:
Hours
:
Minutes
Seconds
A/Prof Daryl Cheng

A/Prof Daryl Cheng

RSV Prevention in Infants and Pregnant Women

Prof Jason Ong

Prof Jason Ong

STIs – Common and Tricky Cases

Dr Terri Foran

Dr Terri Foran

Role of Testosterone During Menopause - Evidence vs Hype

Dr Fiona Chan

Dr Fiona Chan

Vision and Driving Fitness: Key Insights for Health Practitioners

Join us for the next free webcast for GPs and healthcare professionals

High quality lectures delivered by leading independent experts

Share this

Share this

Greg Merlo

writer

Greg Merlo

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Primary Care Clinical Unit, The University of Queensland

Test your knowledge

Recent articles

Latest GP poll

Has a clinic you work at ever received an unfair negative online review?

Yes

0%

No

0%

Recent podcasts

Listen to expert interviews.
Click to open in a new tab

Find your area of interest

Once you confirm you’ve read this article you can complete a Patient Case Review to earn 0.5 hours CPD in the Reviewing Performance (RP) category.

Select ‘Confirm & learn‘ when you have read this article in its entirety and you will be taken to begin your Patient Case Review.

Menopause and MHT

Multiple sclerosis vs antibody disease

Using SGLT2 to reduce cardiovascular death in T2D

Peripheral arterial disease