Washington pharmacists can prescribe antiviral drugs, if flu pandemic hits

SEATTLE Should a major outbreak of pandemic flu hit Washington state, pharmacists there will be able to prescribe antiviral drugs, under an agreement between pharmacy groups and state health officials.

According to the Northwest Center for Public Health Practice, or NWCPHP, an organization in the University of Washington’s School of Public Health, a team from NWCPHP, the Washington State Pharmacy Association and other groups developed a template collaborative drug therapy agreement for the medications under contract with the Washington State Department of Health, supported by money from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The new protocol is intended to go into effect when local health officers authorize it.

Information about the protocol for pharmacists is available at www.nwcphp.org/centers-projects/cdta.