Last month, in partnership with the AUA, the AACU submitted a letter opposing Senate Bill 6398. This legislation would expand pharmacist scope of practice to allow for pharmacists to test, screen and treat a number of health conditions including urinary tract infections. We are waiting on the opportunity to testify at a committee hearing and will update our membership when we have more information.
The AACU is tracking a number of bills including this one in Connecticut related to this specific expansion of pharmacist scope of practice. We believe that when it comes to testing and treating patients with UTI, physicians possess the appropriate knowledge from their extensive training and experience to do so, as well as the tools to responsibly prescribe antibiotics only when appropriate without adding to the ongoing issue of resistance. Many of these bills have no guardrails in place for patients with recurring UTI who may repeatedly visit a pharmacist for treatment or who present with similar symptoms that are not UTI-related, nor do they always provide for appropriate antibiotic resistance stewardship.
We have developed talking points specific to this legislative effort and encourage our members to utilize them as needed.