Read our previous update here.
The AACU is tracking a number of bills this year related to the expansion of pharmacist scope of practice. Specifically, we are concerned about legislation in several states expanding scope of practice to allow for pharmacists to test, screen and treat a number of health conditions including urinary tract infections.
On Monday, February 20, in partnership with AUA, submitted written comments and testified in opposition to SB 92 on behalf of our membership at a New Mexico Senate Judiciary Hearing Committee Hearing. Additionally, Dr. Damara Kaplan, AACU Immediate Past President and practicing New Mexico urologist, provided virtual live testimony on our concerns with this legislation. Though there was debate about the bill and a brief, intense discussion of removing the UTI treatment language, the legislation was passed out of committee and will likely move to the Senate for a vote soon. The AACU will continue to oppose this legislation
The AACU believes 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.
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