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Friday, July 4, 2014
Texas Board of Pharmacy Held an Open Forum July 2, 2014 to discuss Physican Dispensing
It appears that Allergan wants to distribute through physician and optician offices, Latisse (a drug used to make eyelashes grow longer), glycolic acid peels (drugs used to remove wrinkles), acne creams, and creams used to treat age spots. By doing so, Allergan and the physician (optician) both make a heck of a lot of money, more than if the physician just wrote a prescription for appropriate patients, and let a licensed pharmacy actually dispense the drug.
This is the nose under the camel' stent. In other states, including Florida where I practice, this has gone terribly wrong. Physician dispensing isn't about "making it more convenient for the patient". It is about giving the physician a financial incentive to push product, even if it isn't the most appropriate therapy for the patient.
What is your take on a doctor prescribing a topical cream that is pharmaceutical grade and not physically ever seeing the patient? Example - scar cream or pain cream.
How and from whom does the patient get the script? What state is this happening in? Are the scar and pain cream being shipped across state lines? To really answer the question I need more facts, but my initial take on it is that it doesn't pass the smell test. And I would assume it is done simply to make money and for no other reason.
Maybe some of my readers who are doctors could comment on the ethics of prescribing and never physically seeing the patient. And I think there would be liability issues from a medical malpractice standpoint if the patient has NEVER Been seen by the doctor. You have to examine both state and federal laws to answer your question. Each state has a different law regarding whether doctors can write "online" prescriptions without a physical exam of the patient. Some state do not allow it. Pharmacists may also be exposed to liability for filing a script where doctor never saw patient.
3 comments:
It appears that Allergan wants to distribute through physician and optician offices, Latisse (a drug used to make eyelashes grow longer), glycolic acid peels (drugs used to remove wrinkles), acne creams, and creams used to treat age spots. By doing so, Allergan and the physician (optician) both make a heck of a lot of money, more than if the physician just wrote a prescription for appropriate patients, and let a licensed pharmacy actually dispense the drug.
This is the nose under the camel' stent. In other states, including Florida where I practice, this has gone terribly wrong. Physician dispensing isn't about "making it more convenient for the patient". It is about giving the physician a financial incentive to push product, even if it isn't the most appropriate therapy for the patient.
What is your take on a doctor prescribing a topical cream that is pharmaceutical grade and not physically ever seeing the patient? Example - scar cream or pain cream.
How and from whom does the patient get the script? What state is this happening in? Are the scar and pain cream being shipped across state lines? To really answer the question I need more facts, but my initial take on it is that it doesn't pass the smell test. And I would assume it is done simply to make money and for no other reason.
Maybe some of my readers who are doctors could comment on the ethics of prescribing and never physically seeing the patient. And I think there would be liability issues from a medical malpractice standpoint if the patient has NEVER Been seen by the doctor. You have to examine both state and federal laws to answer your question. Each state has a different law regarding whether doctors can write "online" prescriptions without a physical exam of the patient. Some state do not allow it. Pharmacists may also be exposed to liability for filing a script where doctor never saw patient.
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