Doctors sue state over ban on providing prescriptions directly to patients

Three physicians in Montana have joined with the Institute for Justice in a lawsuit against the state over its ban on giving patients medications.

Pharmacies can give patients medications, but they, as doctors, cannot, the state law provides.

But that doesn't make sense, according to IJ.

"The last thing a sick patient wants to do after a doctor’s appointment is stand in line at a pharmacy for basic treatment like anti-nausea medication—and, in most of the country, they don’t have to. Forty-four states and the District of Columbia allow patients to purchase medications directly from their prescribing doctor. This practice, known as 'doctor dispensing,' is a safe and effective way to increase access to treatment, and is offered by a majority of doctors nationwide," the organization said.

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But a state law prevents doctors from handing out medications patients need.

Drs. Carol Bridges, Todd Bergland and Cara Harrop, who work in Missoula, Whitefish and Polson respectively, now are fighting the restriction.

"All three are family doctors who regularly prescribe medications for common issues like high cholesterol, stomach bugs and seasonal allergies. And all three feel their patients would benefit if they could offer direct access to the medications they prescribe, right when they prescribe them," IJ said.

IJ charged that the state's "anti-competitive ban" is unconstitutional in three ways.

First, it violates the state constitution's provision that protects the right to pursue a chosen business free from "irrational and protectionist government interference."

It also violates a state constitutional provision that forbids the state from "drawing unreasonable and protectionist distinctions between similar groups," IJ said.

"In short, Dr. Bridges, Dr. Bergland and Dr. Harrop want to provide identical services to those offered by rural peers, but they are forbidden from doing so because they work too close to pharmacies – a factor that, again, has nothing to do with safety and everything to do with protecting pharmacies from competition."

And, IJ explains, the state constitution forbids the legislature from enacting vague laws. Also, the statute's references to "any drug in an emergency" and allowing delivery "occasionally, but not as a usual course of doing business" are vague.

The state bars doctors from distributing prescriptions if they are within 10 miles of a pharmacy.

Montana's law states "it is unlawful for a medical practitioner to engage, directly or indirectly, in the dispensing of drugs," and then includes several vague exceptions.

"This ban, while clothed as a health and safety measure, has nothing to do with protecting the public. Montana doctors are every bit as qualified as their peers in 44 other states and the District of Columbia to dispense medication to their patients. And doctors who happen to work near pharmacies are just as qualified as their rural Montana peers to dispense medications safely and ethically," IJ said.