Kalorama report suggests that pharmacists may soon be prescribing drugs

NEW YORK According to Prescribing Pharmacists: An Emerging Decision Maker, a new report from Kalorama Information, six states may soon be giving pharmacists the authority to independently prescribe prescription drugs.

This could move drug revenues influenced by pharmacists from $77 billion in 2006 to $145 billion by 2012. The study shows that 77 percent of drug purchase decisions are currently made without the influence of a pharmacist, however, by 2012 that percentage will drop to 63 percent.

Florida already allows pharmacists to prescribe independently from an approved list of drugs, and some federal agencies allow pharmacists to prescribe under regulated conditions.

Melissa Elder, the report’s author, said that, “Certainly safety will continue to impact the decision to allow pharmacists to prescribe, but cost-savings, population shifts and numerous other factors are helping to swing the pendulum toward this expansion of the pharmacist’s role.”