Docs focused on turf not women: PSA

MEDICAL lobby groups appear to be more concerned about protecting their patch than improving Australian women’s access to oral contraceptives, Pharmaceutical Society of Australia National President, Associate Professor Chris Freeman believes.

Freeman described the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s (TGA’s) Advisory Committee on Medicines Scheduling (ACMS) interim decision to retain the current Prescription-Only status for oral contraceptives (PD 19 Oct), as “very disappointing”.

The PSA President noted that throughout the COVID-19 pandemic pharmacists had proven their capacity to safely dispense oral contraceptives without a prescription under Continued Dispensing arrangements.

“We will be responding to the TGA to reconsider their position before making a final decision,” he said.

“The benefits of improved access to oral contraception are clear.

“Well-established models exist overseas, where pharmacists can provide the medicine once it has previously been prescribed.

“Predictably, the Australian doctors’ lobby groups are more worried about ‘protecting their own turf’, than providing women with timely, cheaper and safe access to contraception.

“The public are sick of it.

“The Australian Medical Association (AMA) doesn’t bat an eyelid when it comes to fringe online prescription services but are comfortable in restricting access for Australian pharmacists.

“We have already seen the success of continued dispensing of oral contraceptives through the pandemic, and internationally, there are well-established models which demonstrate the success of pharmacists’ role in this process.”

PSA Contemporary Community Pharmacy Practice Community of Specialty Interest Chair, Dr Fei Sim, said opposition to down-scheduling the Pill to Pharmacist-Only implied the AMA and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners were “advocating to restrict women’s access”.

“When it comes to contraception, it is imperative that we have a patient-centric approach, one that Australian women need and deserve,” she said.

“The same rhetoric we saw in the initial stages of pharmacists providing immunisations has now resurfaced, whereby, doctors’ groups advocated against immunisations being administered by pharmacists for the same hollow reason they want to restrict access to contraception.”