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Alberta pharmacists are suggesting scrapping a marketing tool to protect patients from making unhealthy choices.
A proposal from the Alberta College of Pharmacists (ACP) suggests prohibiting pharmacies from offering inducements ? benefits like gifts, cash or loyalty points ? to people when they buy drugs.
?Inducement programs cause conflicts in the delivery of care,? said Kaye Moran, president of the ACP, in an online video explanation of the proposed prohibition.
?The prohibition is vital in creating practice environments where care decisions are made solely on the best health care, the highest ethical standards are observed and outside influences are removed from the relationships between patients and pharmacy professionals and between pharmacists and other health care providers.? Moran added.
The prohibition would apply to all prescription drugs as well as drugs that can only be bought through a pharmacy. According to the ACP, the move is being suggested to keep people from unhealthy choices like waiting to fill a prescription, filling a prescription too soon or buying larger quantities of medication in order to get something extra like coupons or loyalty points.
They also said they have witnessed people frequently switching between pharmacies, and leaving gaps in their medical information when doing so, simply to get the bonus points or gifts.
The college has not yet set a timeline for when they would like to see the prohibition take place but said they plan to focus on the proper implementation of the rules first.
Similar rules have already been used in Ontario, Newfoundland, PEI, Quebec and BC.
david.lazzarino@sunmedia.ca
@SUNDaveLazz
Should reward perks like Air Miles be scrapped when paying for prescriptions?
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