I am researching "Pharmacist-Only" classes of drugs worldwide and am having
difficulty locating information. Specifically, I am trying to discover
which Countries actually allow this "third class" of drug regulation, which
products are typically included and the practical aspects to the "behind the
counter" class.
I have seen that APhA has proposed a "Pharmacy Care OTC" class and I would
also be interested on this topic as well.
Any help on this matter is greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your time.
Matthew
Matthew J. Seamon, Pharm.D.
Assistant Professor, Drug Information
Nova Southeastern University College of Pharmacy
3200 S University Drive
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33328
Email: mseamon@nova.edu
Phone: (954) 262-3104
New Zealand and Australia both have pharmacist only classes of medicines.
A list of the types of substances in this class can be found on the
Medsafe website (www.medsafe.govt.nz)
regards
Stewart Jessamine
Principal Technical Specialist - Medicines Regulation and
Pharmacovigilance
Medsafe
Public Health Directorate
Ministry of Health
DDI: 04 496 2274 http://www.moh.govt.nz
stewart_jessamine@moh.govt.nz
In Australia we have this 'third class'. Technically we have 'four'
classes; prescription only, pharmacist-only, pharmacy-only, and general
sales. Pharmacist-only medicines must be stored in the dispensary and
can only be sold with the intervention of the pharmacist, whereas
pharmacy-medicines are only sold in pharmacies, but only require the
pharmacist to supervise the sales. These two classes were/are referred
to as Schedule 3 and Schedule 2 medicines respectively. Whether a drug
falls into Schedule 3 or 2 is ultimately decided in each State and
Territory in Australia. However, there is a Standard for the uniform
scheduling of drugs and poisons that is decided at a Federal (national)
level by the National Drugs and Poisons Schedule Committee (NDPSC). Most
States uses this as the basis of their scheduling. For information on
what criteria the NDPSC use in deciding which schedule a drug falls into
see:
The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia has a set of Standards for
pharmacists on the sale of Schedule 3 and 2 medicines.
David
David Newby B.Pharm PhD
Senior Lecturer
Pharmacy
School of Biomedical Sciences
Faculty of Health
The University of Newcastle
Postal address:
Room 611, Medical Sciences Building
The University of Newcastle
University Drive
Callaghan, NSW 2308
Tel: +61 2 49215154
Fax: +61 2 49217903
Mobile: 0411126333
David.Newby@newcastle.edu.au
Zimbabwe has a category of distribution called
'Pharmacist-initiated Medicine' which requires that
the pharmacist keep records very similar to normal
prescription records - there are a few differences to
the records and there are regulations governing the
circumstances under which they may be dispensed but my
memory is somewhat rusty on these and I do not wish to
spread false information. Some of the medicines
covered one might expect e.g. ibuprofen, but there are
some unusual ones (in my opinion) e.g. glyceryl
trinitrate.
Perhaps a Zimbabwean colleague could fill in the gaps
for Matthew and provide more examples of PIM drugs.
Regards
Douglas Ball
Dr. Douglas Ball BSc(Pharm), MSc, MMedSc(ClinEpid), PhD
Dept. of Pharmacy Practice
Faculty of Pharmacy, Health Sciences Center
University of Kuwait, PO Box 24923 Safat 13110
Kuwait
Tel: (965)531-2300 ext. 6073
Mobile: (965) 7975483
Fax (work): (965)534-2807
E-mail: dball@hsc.edu.kw
Here is a list of some drugs falling under the pharmacist initiated class in
Zimbabwe:
Antifungal topical creams:-miconazole,clotrimazole,
All antifungal vaginal preparations
Antifungal oral preparation: miconazole,clotrimazole
Proctosedyl suppositories
acyclovir topical cream
allopurinol tablets
ibuprofen tablets
Ethelda Chikumbo
Pharmacist
West end Clinic
Zimbabwe
westend@africaonline.co.zw