Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin has proposed the establishment of a joint committee to resolve a conflict between the Medical Council and the National Health Security Office (NHSO) over the prescribing of drugs by pharmacists for 23 minor illnesses.
Somsak recently invited representatives of the Medical Council for a discussion, after the council filed a petition with the Central Administrative Court to revoke an announcement, issued by the NHSO, authorising pharmacists based in drug stores to prescribe medicines to patients suffering certain conditions without consultation with doctors.
The public health minister said that representatives of the Medical Council have no objection to the initiative by the NHSO, to provide greater access to medication for patients, which will help reduce the workload at hospitals.
The council’s representatives are, however, concerned about the safety of the patients, because they will receive medicines, prescribed by pharmacists, without having been diagnosed by a doctor, said Somsak, adding that the NHSO’s announcement might have to be amended.
