Release Date
Geography
Language of Resource
Full Text Available
Open Access / OK to Reproduce
Peer Reviewed
Objective
Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Health Canada issued an exemption to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) on March 19, 2020, enabling pharmacists to act as prescribers of controlled substances to support continuity of care. Our study investigates utilization of the CDSA exemption by Ontario pharmacists with the intent to inform policy on pharmacist scope of practice and to improve future patient outcomes.
Findings/Key points
Postexemption, the average weekly number of pharmacist-prescribed opioid, benzodiazepine and stimulant claims rose by 146%, 960% and 2150%, respectively. There was a 2-week lag period between the time of announcement and the statistically significant increase in claims on April 5, 2020. The total number of claims for opioid quantities exceeding a 30-day supply decreased by 60%. Cumulative pharmacist-prescribed claims accounted for under 2% of the total Narcotics Monitoring System claims. Our findings suggest that pharmacists were judicious in their use of the exemption. This aligns with previous work assessing pharmacist prescribing and should be used to inform future decisions on health care policy and pharmacist scope of practice.
View the related infographic & press release here: https://odprn.ca/research/publications/covid-19-cdsa-exemption-on-pharm…
Design/methods
Time-series analysis
