Legislative battle brews in Arizona over pharmacy-based immunizations

TEMPE, Ariz. The Arizona Pharmacy Alliance is reportedly ruffling the feathers of physicians in the state with a new effort to overturn legal restrictions on the administering of immunizations by pharmacists.

A report from Capitol Media Services points to a turf battle percolating in the Arizona state legislature between the Pharmacy Alliance and a physicians’ group, the Arizona Academy of Family Physicians. The battle is over HB 2164, which would change state law to make it easier for patients to get flu shots without a doctor’s prescription.

“This new proposed legislation will expand the pharmacists' scope of practice to allow pharmacists in Arizona to administer vaccines…to patients 18 years or age and older using board-approved protocols,” the pharmacy group noted in a statement.

It’s a question of easing patient access to needed medical services, the Pharmacy Alliance argues. Pharmacists in the state can already administer some types of vaccinations and acute-care medications, provided they have a doctor’s signed authorization. The new bill, which has already been passed through the Arizona House Committee on Health and Human Services with the backing of the Arizona Retailers Association, would eliminate the requirement for a prescription.

As written, however, HB 2164 would still require pharmacists to notify a patient's doctor within 24 hours of administering a flu shot or other vaccine, according to the Capitol Media Services report.