On July 1, 2020, Bill C-4 (the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement Implementation Act) came into effect after receiving Royal Assent on March 13, 2020. This Act makes amendments to section 14 of the Food and Drugs Act regarding the prohibition on the distribution of drugs as samples.
Amendments to the Food and Drug Regulations (FDR) now permit the distribution of drugs samples to a “practitioner” and the further distribution of drugs samples by the practitioner to patients. FDR defines a “practitioner” as a person who is entitled under the laws of a province or territory to treat patients with a prescription drug.
As a result, nurse practitioners (NPs) in Nova Scotia are now permitted to provide drug samples to clients effective July 1, 2020.
Although the online version of this legislation has not yet been updated, a LINK to the Order in Council outlines these changes.
This professional practice bulletin is available on our website for print. If you have any questions, please contact an NSCN Practice Consultant at practice@nscn.ca.
