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Jul 6, 2009

Doctors In BC Can Self-Prescribe

This is kind of interesting... I had no idea that doctors in BC can prescribe medications to themselves.

“Technically, it is not illegal but self-prescribing isn’t condoned by the College of Physicians and Surgeons..." (Vancouver Sun)

Apparently many physicians in this province have no family doc themselves, so they tend to take care of their own medical needs, which would include writing their own prescriptions. While this would be convenient, couldn't it be dangerous in the case of mis-diagnosis due to lack of objectivity?

According to the article, an attempt is being made to encourage more physicians to take other docs as patients, to help rectify this issue.

It's a tough call: is it fair to ban physicians from self-prescribing when there is a lack of care available for them? What do you think?

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