I am trying to find information that describes the regulatory environment
across different countries in the EEC and other countries world-wide that
determines which pharmaceuticals are prescription only (legend or scheduled
in US terms) and those that are over the counter sales requiring no
prescription by a medical doctor. I am particularly interested in how
these lists are determined and changed. Also, I would like to know if any
of these lists differentiate which type of physician or other health care
provider including nurses, pharmacists, optometrists, psychologists, etc.
may prescribe which drug. It would also be helpful to know which countries
have no restrictions on who buys drugs.
I have searched through the EEC WWW site, Lexis/Nexis Academic, Medline,
and have sent e-mails to a few international pharmaceutical and nursing
organizations. Any information, ideas, or thoughts on this topic would
be greatly appreciated. Send e-mails to me and I will be happy to share
all I receive with others.
The reason for my query to the listserve is that as a nurse practitioner
educator I am very interested in the historical / social/ and evidence base
for vesting nearly complete authority for drug prescribing in medical
practice here in the US and worldwide. A few states (including New
Hampshire where I live and work) now allow plenary authority to prescribe
to nurse practitioners (NPs) and have done so now for nearly ten years with
no evidence of any problems. Although NPs in New Hampshire have
independent prescriptive authority (no requirement for supervision or
collaboration), it is from a somewhat limited formulary that is determined
by a board comprised of medical doctors, pharmacists, and nurse
practitioners. To extend my understanding of prescriptive authority, I
would like to learn more aobut the international environment for drug
prescribing and the formal or informal status of nurses as drug
prescribers.
Lastly, I would like to thank whoever contributed the quote I use in my
signature lines to the evidence based health listserve a few years back.
It is one of my favorite quotes. I would love to know the exact source.
Best wishes,
Gene
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|