COVID-19 Medicines Update April 2, 2020

1. Australian Government COVID-19 and Medicines Update – new measures announced

There have been new announcements related to COVID-19 and medicinesfrom the Australian Government.

The measures include:

  • Continued dispensing arrangements for the ongoing supply of PBS medicines without a prescription will be extended to 30 June 2020. This had originally been enacted during the bushfire crisis and allows patients to continue to access their usual medicines through pharmacy for up to 1 month without a script, under specific conditions.
  • Changes to allow community pharmacists to substitute dose strengths or forms of medicines without prior approval from the prescribing doctor, if a medicine is unavailable at the time of dispensing, within specific guidelines and rules.
/Public Release. View in full here.