Bill That Gives Pharmacists Ability To Prescribe Limited Medication Heads To Governor’s Desk

Senate Bill 526 gives pharmacists the ability to prescribe certain medications, but the bill’s lead sponsor, Sen. Laura Chapman, R-Ohio, said the bill that the House of Delegates returned to the Senate was disappointing. Regardless she advised the Senate to pass the bill. 

“While I agreed to concur in this bill, I just want the body to know. I’m very disappointed,” Chapman said. 

Another change in the bill was what pharmacists were able to prescribe. The original bill would have allowed for treatments for a larger swath of illness, for example a urinary tract infection. However the bill that crossed the finish line only allows for treatments for testes that are waived under the federal Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988. Those are tests for things like COVID-19 or the flu. 

Another of the changes made in the House requires pharmacists to notify the patient’s primary care physician within 72 hours of the prescription. 

Del. Evan Worrell, R-Cabell, proposed the changes. 

“We changed that to shall, because I think anytime something is being done, anytime treatment is done, we need to let the PCP know. We need to let the patients or their primary care physician, know what happened, because that physician has that established relationship,” Worrell said. 

He said the changes would help ensure that patients receive care for possible underlying conditions, like pneumonia. 

“Pharmacists don’t have a stethoscope, so, right? You go in and you have the flu, but they wouldn’t check you if you have any underlying respiratory issues,” Worrell said. 

Worrell said the changes will strengthen the pharmacist-physician relationship for the patient.  

These changes were inline with testimony heard in the house from Kevin Yingling who is both a medical doctor and a pharmacist. 

“Pharmacist expertise could be brought to bear in either collaborative practice or in the statewide protocol that would provide for the opportunity to patients to access pharmacists, and the pharmacist would be able to prescribe a limited group of medications for a limited group of diseases,” Yingling said. 

Chapman said while the bill is still a win for expanding access, she wished it would allow pharmacists to do more. She says for her, the issue isn’t over. 

“At least we now have the pharmacist prescribing act on the books,” Chapman said. “I meant it when I said, I will come back next year, and I will try again, and I will make it so that it’s not so restrictive, and I will fight, very hard, to get it back.”

New Mexico, Idaho, Oregon, Florida, California, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Massachusetts, and Iowa have similar laws on the books. Each state has their own specific rules, for example requiring pharmacists to have extra credentials.