Convenient Access to Birth Control Pills and High Cholesterol Medication
The passing of the National Health (Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement) Bill 2011means that patients whose prescriptions have run out will be able to obtain birth control pills and high cholesterol medication from a pharmacy if they’re unable to see a doctor in time for a renewal.
View by date:
Previous MinistersPDF printable version of Convenient access to birth control pills and high cholesterol medication (PDF 21 KB)
1 March 2012
Patients whose prescriptions have run out will be able to obtain birth control pills and high cholesterol medication without going back to the doctor.
Under the National Health (Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement) Bill 2011 passed by the Senate today, patients will not have to risk missing their medication if they’re unable to see a doctor when their pills run out.
“This is a big win for patients who can’t always make it to the doctor before their medications run out,” said Ms Plibersek.
Ms Plibersek said the amendment means there will be uninterrupted access to birth control pills and high cholesterol medication, known as statins; two of the most commonly prescribed medications in Australia.
In the 2010-11 financial year, almost 22 million prescriptions for statins, costing the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) $1.1 billion, and 590,000 prescriptions for the pill, costing the PBS almost $7 million, were filled by Australian pharmacists.
Under part of the amendment that covers “continued dispensing,” a pharmacist will only be able to supply these medicines under the following circumstances:
- There is an immediate and ongoing need for supply of the medicine to facilitate continuity of therapy, and the patient cannot get to a prescriber in time to get a valid prescription.
- The medicine has been previously prescribed for the person, and there has been prior clinical review by the prescriber that supports continuation of the medicine.
- The medicine is safe and appropriate for that consumer.
- The pharmacist provides written communication to the most recent prescriber advising of the supply of the medicine to the consumer within 24 hours.
“Importantly, the amendment will give patients access to the medicines through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, meaning they will not have to pay full price as they would using the current emergency mechanisms.”
Specifically the two types of medication that will be available are oral hormonal contraceptives for systemic use in the prevention of pregnancy, and lipid modifying agents, or statins, for the treatment of high cholesterol.
For more information contact the Minister’s Office on 02 6277 7220
Help with accessing large documents
When accessing large documents (over 500 KB in size), it is recommended that the following procedure be used:
- Click the link with the RIGHT mouse button
- Choose "Save Target As.../Save Link As..." depending on your browser
- Select an appropriate folder on a local drive to place the downloaded file
Attempting to open large documents within the browser window (by left-clicking)
may inhibit your ability to continue browsing while the document is
opening and/or lead to system problems.
Help with accessing PDF documents
To view PDF (Portable Document Format) documents, you will need to have a PDF reader installed on your computer. A number of PDF readers are available through the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) Web Guide website.