By Chris Brown

Bill 65

Amendments proposed to strengthen health legislation

Apr 8, 2021 | 4:42 PM

The provincial government is proposing amendments to update and modernize health legislation in Alberta.

Government says the proposed amendments to Bill 65, the Health Statutes Amendment Act, Spring 2021 will ensure the health system can better serve Albertans.

Highlights of the bill include:

• Enhancing responsibility and accountability to ensure pharmacy owners, regardless of the ownership model, are accountable for the care the pharmacy provides to Albertans.
• Reducing red tape for pharmacies and supporting an evolving pharmacy environment and system.
• Providing judges at fatality inquiries with access to facts and information from health system quality assurance committees to support more comprehensive reviews, discussions and effective recommendations.
• Adding a provision so when government joins an injured claimant’s lawsuit that ultimately ends up being unsuccessful, government is only responsible to pay the additional, reasonable costs related directly to recovering the cost of health services provided to the injured claimant.
• Reducing red tape and enabling late-filing penalties for auto insurers to be waived in extraordinary circumstances, such as a natural disaster, that prevent them from meeting deadlines to file reports.

“The proposed amendments will better enable the college to oversee pharmacy operations and practices in a manner that protects and serves the public interest,’ says Dana Lyons, president, Alberta College of Pharmacy, in a release. “These respond to significant changes in pharmacy practices, ownership and provide a better framework for regulating these in a consistently changing environment.”

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Another amendment will expand access to pharmacy services for herd animals and clarifying that pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are able to provide pharmacy services to companion animals.

The government says the change would provide Albertans who raise or own herd animals with options to access pharmacy services for animals previously enabled under the Food and Drug Act prior to changes made by the federal government in 2018.

“Animal owners rely on pharmacy teams for prescription medications for their animals. Pharmacy teams like mine have worked with veterinarians to support animal health in rural communities for over a century. We are vital to their health and sustainability,” says Cynthia Driedger, owner and pharmacist at La Crete Apple Drugs. “Updating the legislation to reflect these practices is welcome news.”

Bill 65 would amend the Pharmacy and Drug Act, Health Professions Act (Pharmacy), Alberta Evidence Act and Crown’s Right of Recovery Act, as well as make minor housekeeping amendments to the Mental Health Act and Health Facilities Act.