A patient displays medications and a $50 cash kickback that a pharmacy employee delivered to him, in violation of College of Pharmacists of B.C. bylaws, on Feb. 6, in Vancouver. The man tells The Globe and Mail that the pharmacy pays him $50 per week and does not change his fentanyl patches, as ordered by his doctor.
“I write because the Ministry of Health is deeply concerned about recent reports that some community pharmacies located in the greater Vancouver area are providing cash to people to use their pharmacy, including to receive opioid use disorder treatment – particularly in the Downtown Eastside,” Mr. Moneo wrote.
The letter concluded by saying that the ministry’s Special Investigation Unit conducts criminal and regulatory investigations and that the Pharmacare audit team probes pharmacies for compliance. The pharmacies appear to target economically vulnerable patients – largely those with substance use disorders – and are accused of putting their health at risk. Some patients have reported that pharmacists will counsel them on which medications to ask for to maximize the number dispensed daily and the resulting billable fees; others say they have medications marked as dispensed despite never having received them.
Asked by The Globe about the matter, Health Minister Adrian Dix said his ministry and the College of Pharmacists of British Columbia are investigating and the public will be informed when that investigation concludes.Garth Mullins, a BCAPOM board member and drug user advocate, said the group would like to see incentives legitimized.