Can pharmacy technicians witness Methadone Maintenance Treatment (MMT) doses?
The College’s Opioid Policy expects pharmacists providing Opioid Agonist Treatment (OAT) to practice in accordance with CAMH’s Opioid Agonist Maintenance Treatment: A Pharmacist’s Guide to Methadone and Buprenorphine for Opioid Use Disorder and the Standards of Practice.
When dispensing methadone, the pharmacist is responsible for the therapeutic check of the prescription, assessing the patient, and witnessing the administration and ingestion of observed doses. These functions cannot be delegated to a pharmacy technician by the pharmacist.
Part A pharmacy technicians have the independent authority to check the accuracy of the technical components of methadone prescriptions. Pharmacy technicians may also be responsible for other tasks in the workflow that fall within their competencies such as checking the prescription for technical accuracy, dose preparation, assisting with documentation and inventory management, etc.
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