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NEWS RELEASE : December 7, 2005
Controversial morning-after pill screening form scrapped
in Ontario: Women’s health information protected
In response to a request from Information and Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian, the Ontario College of Pharmacists has agreed to advise Ontario pharmacists not to use the voluntary collection screening form issued by the Canadian Pharmacists Association. Instead, Ontario pharmacists will be advised to use the new guidelines that will be issued by the College in the near future.
It has been reported in the media that pharmacists may be collecting sensitive personal health information during the course of dispensing Plan B (levonorgestrel 0.75 mg.), the emergency contraceptive pill.
The pill was recently removed from Health Canada’s list of prescription drugs, enabling pharmacists to provide this drug to individuals without a prescription. Plan B has been designated as a behind-the-counter drug, requiring pharmacist intervention. Voluntary guidelines issued by the Canadian Pharmacists Association recommend that pharmacists collect personal health information, some of it extremely sensitive, prior to dispensing Plan B. This practice has raised concerns about privacy becoming a potential barrier to accessing emergency contraception.
While Commissioner Cavoukian values the important services and guidance provided by pharmacists in Ontario, the Commissioner has a mandate to ensure that all health services, including the dispensing of drugs, are provided in the most privacy-sensitive manner possible and in accordance with the requirements of Ontario’s Personal Health Information Protection Act.
“Identifiable personal health information should only be collected if necessary for the provision of health care,” said Commissioner Cavoukian. The Commissioner met this week with representatives of the Ontario College of Pharmacists and the Ontario Pharmacists Association to discuss the privacy concerns raised by the guidelines issued by the Canadian Pharmacists Association. “This was a very productive meeting,” said the Commissioner.
The Ontario College of Pharmacists and the Ontario Pharmacists Association acknowledged that the voluntary screening form contained in the national guidelines issued by the Canadian Pharmacists Association should be replaced by made-in-Ontario guidelines that comply with the requirements of health privacy legislation in Ontario. These organizations have agreed to form a working group with the Commissioner’s office to develop guidelines to be used by Ontario pharmacists in dispensing Plan B, in a very privacy-sensitive manner.
The new guidelines will assist pharmacists in conveying important information about Plan B to individuals, in a manner that does not require the recorded collection of personal health information about identifiable individuals. The guidelines will emphasize that if health information must be obtained from individuals, it should not be recorded in identifiable form.
Ontario pharmacists will be advised by the College to use the new guidelines that will be issued by the College in the near future.
Media Contact:
Bob Spence
Communications Co-ordinator
Direct line:
416-326-3939
Cell phone: 416-873-9746
Toll free number: 1-800-387-0073
bob.spence@ipc.on.ca |