“There are a lot of unscrupulous pharmacists in the methadone business,” Wilson said.
And due to the pandemic, communication between pharmacists and patients who use drugs has become even more strained, Wilson says. Inconsistent treatment protocols and other gaps in service have resulted in people being refused access to safe supply.
“A lot of pharmacists didn’t know what to do,” Wilson says.
While there are many areas where addiction medicine needs improvement, especially in the midst of a deadly toxic drug emergency, a new partnership between the BC Centre on Substance Use, the University of British Columbia and Shoppers Drug Mart aims to improve pharmacist-patient relationships.