Rep. Davisson’s HB 1067 adds pneumonia immunizations as one the kinds of immunizations a pharmacist is allowed to administer; joining flue and shingles immunizations. Allows the pharmacist to administer the immunizations to kids as young as nine as opposed to fourteen currently. It also adds reporting requirements for the immunization data registry.
This might cut into some physicians’ work, I suppose; but the doctors I know would mostly be happy to farm out a little more of this stuff and concentrate on their patient’s bigger problems. And, I get the sense that pharmacists are a little more able to help patients navigate the pharmaceutical bureaucracy in a way that keeps costs down a bit.
I wonder if Pat Miller will let it go through the senate.
I’ve never had an actual doctor give shots to myself or my daughter, it’s always nurses.
shingles vaccine is very expensive, and is contraindicated for some people, so I’m surprised they can be administered without a doctor’s order
Pharmacists and insurance companies practice medicine all the time. From the pharmacist who tells patients there’s a “better” or “cheaper” medicine than the one the doctor prescribe, to pushing generics, etc. And insurance companies refusing to pay for the medication that has the FDA indication for that condition, and instead only covering a medication that doesn’t have the FDA indication. Having a pharmacist give a vaccine is small potatoes compared with some of the stuff going on out there.
Pharmacists and insurance companies practice medicine all the time.
Yeah, god forbid Doctors’ auth-or-ah-TAY be challenged.
“Yeah, god forbid Doctors’ auth-or-ah-TAY be challenged.”
Buzz, Sometimes you are just too clever. I sincerely hope you or your family members never need the services of my daughter who is a doctor in a specialty that everyone dreads. If you ever do, you would be grateful for her authority that is founded on excellent training, good science and heartfelt compassion. And by the way, she works long hours, her family is shortchanged in time, and her salary is not enormous.
Buzz is skeptical of claims of expertise generally.
Mary, your response is exactly what I am talking about. God forbid somebody not worship the ground that doctors walk on.
BTW, to the original post, for many folks, the choice is not between getting a vaccine from a doctor or getting it from some other source, it is the choice between getting the vaccine and not getting it. Thanks to the doctors’ lobby, there is a severe shortage of doctors (it increases their income). Getting a vaccine from another source may be the only way that a person can get it.
But, again, doctors don’t like the competition. It hurts their bottom line.
One more thing. Medical mistakes are the second leading cause of death in this country. We ALL need to be a little more skeptical of expertise, especially medical expertise. I wouldn’t go for elective surgery on a bet, for example.
It’s so impressive how you actually know everything about everything. You must be exhausted from spending all your time accumulating a body of knowledge so wide and deep that lesser people just can’t come close to it.
Mary –
I find your views fascinating, and would like to receive your newsletter.
@Mary: I just scroll through the resident fascist’s posts. Much easier on the blood pressure. Oh, and I don’t come by here much anymore. Also easier on the blood pressure. From what I’ve seen when I have come by, apparently several other former regulars are either rarely coming by, rarely posting, or both. That’s what happens when one person takes over a blog’s comment space.
It is true that it is nurses who most frequently administer shots of any type. That doesn’t mean doctors can’t or won’t. They typically don’t, however.
Thanks, Pila. Good observations and good advice.