Ontario, Canada considering retail telepharmacy legislation

Current law in the Canadian province of Ontario restricts the remote dispensation of medication, machines for which already exist and are being tested, and there are amendments to legislation in the works to allow remote dispensing. Check the Ontario College of Pharmacists' entry on the matter.

In an online article from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario's Sault Star:

Basically, the legislation enables the private sector to install the technology to meet demand, wherever that is, because "right now in Ontario law you have to have a pharmacist physically present," Erwin said.

Two machines have been tested at Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital since June. British Columbia is already using the technology, he said.

The "ScriptCenter" is one model that holds between 400 and 500 unique patient prescriptions that has been approved in 35 U.S. states, he said.

The rest of the article is opinions from a couple local Ontario pharmacists who seem be more concerned about losing customers to automation than they are with the vast numbers of people who need prescriptions filled in under-served or outright unserviced areas of the province, though it could be that they simply left better reasons unspoken. As the Health Minister spokesman David Caplan seems to have said, "This is just providing another option. In no way is it meant to replace pharmacists."