Given the Yukon’s current state of emergency, the government is issuing a ministerial order to expand practice options for pharmacists.

These temporary changes mirror provisions that were in place last year, the government said Friday.

The provisions help ensure that Yukoners can continue to safely access needed prescriptions during the pandemic.

The changes ultimately help to decrease pressures on the healthcare system, doctors’ offices and emergency rooms, the government said.

Under the order, pharmacists can now at their discretion do the following:

• Extend prescriptions originally made by physicians more than once when a patient is unable to see their physician.

• Transfer physician prescriptions for controlled drugs to other pharmacists within Canada.

• Be the original prescriber for minor ailments such as dermatitis, conjunctivitis and cold sores.

The temporary regulatory changes also allow pharmacists to extend and deliver physician prescriptions for controlled substances.

This change aligns with Health Canada’s temporary exemption for prescriptions of controlled substances during the pandemic.

It also supports the government’s response to the Yukon’s Substance Use Health Emergency by helping improve access to safe supply. Controlled substances include prescription medications such as opioids, stimulants, depressants, hallucinogens and anabolic steroids.

These expanded practice options are in place for the duration of the state of emergency in response to COVID-19, and expire 30 days after the state of emergency ends.

The government plans to continue to explore permanent options that will allow pharmacists and the medical community to best support Yukoners and their health.

It first introduced similar changes in May 2020, soon after declaring the territory’s first COVID-19 related state of emergency. These initial changes ended 30 days after this state of emergency lifted.

The Pharmacists Regulation and standards of practice, as well as the Health Professions Act and federal regulations such as the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, dictate how pharmacists in the territory practice.

The federal government issued a temporary exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act in March 2020.

Ottawa made this exemption to support access to certain medications during the pandemic but it is up to each provincial and territorial jurisdiction to adjust their legislation to be eligible for the exemption.

Pharmacists will use their professional discretion in deciding when to use the new practice options available to them.

In making their decisions, they will be guided by the need to ensure both public and patient safety.

Pharmacists are now permitted to use their discretion to accept verbal orders from physicians for controlled substances.

They can also extend prescriptions originally made by physicians for controlled substances, (limited to one seven-day extension for methadone and suboxone).