The College of Pharmacists of B.C. has ordered a pharmacy in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside to shut down, citing health and safety concerns similar to those that resulted in a different store being ordered closed in May.
The college says it ordered the closure of Downtown Pharmacy at 348 Powell St. after an inspection turned up problems including mould, rat traps and feces, and dirty fixtures and furniture during an inspection.
Previously, on May 29, the college ordered the Native Vancouver Pharmacy at 50 East Hastings St. over similar conditions.
The inspections and closures are part of the college's recently announced action plan on methadone maintenance treatment. The plan, announced in July, followed a provincial report on B.C.'s methadone maintenance payment program that flagged several concerns, including a proliferation of methadone-dispensing pharmacies in the Downtown Eastside and parts of Surrey.
The report also found that methadone and its associated fees account for the second-highest drug cost for PharmaCare, B.C.'s provincial drug plan, at nearly $44-million last year. B.C. has among the most generous remuneration schemes in Canada for dispensing methadone; dispensing methadone to a single patient can generate nearly $6,500 a year in fees.
Doctors prescribe methadone to people as a substitute for heroin.
The province introduced a regulation last year that required additional information from pharmacies to enroll in the provincial drug plan. Under that regulation, which came into effect June 1, nearly 30 pharmacies have terminated their enrolment after receiving notice their enrolment was going to be cancelled by the province.
Wendy Stueck