DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE PHARMACY SHUT DOWN

A Downtown Eastside pharmacy has been ordered to close its doors amid
allegations that the Vancouver shop provided cash kickbacks to addicts
seeking to have methadone prescriptions filled.

The AYC Pharmacy on East Hastings Street has had its licence suspended
and was ordered to close indefinitely after an investigation by the
College of Pharmacists, according to CBC News. The pharmacy must close
by Dec. 1, but will operate on shortened hours until then so customers
can find another place to fill prescriptions.

The college said the closure was a result of "medicine-management"
issues involving patient safety, according to the CBC.

The pharmacy is also being investigated by the Ministry of Health over
allegations that it provided drug addicts with cash inducements to
fill methadone prescriptions.

Methadone is sometimes prescribed to drug users as an alternative to
heroin. B.C. pharmacies are paid $8.60 each time they dispense a drug.
If pharmacies dispense methadone and supervise the patient as they
take it, they receive an additional $7.70.

Under the province's PharmaCare regulations, pharmacists are not
allowed to advertise drugs or offer cash or other incentives,
including air miles, loyalty points or bus passes, to methadone users.

But some pharmacies in the Downtown Eastside post signs in the windows
advertising methadone and openly hand out cookies and coffee to those
filling methadone prescriptions.

In September, Health Minister George Abbott told The Province a
Downtown Eastside pharmacy was being investigated after the ministry
received a letter from a concerned doctor.

"We have received at least one complaint; there may be more," he
said.

The methadone maintenance program can be lucrative for pharmacies,
representing as much as $54 million a year in provincially paid
dispensing fees.

It is not clear if other Downtown Eastside pharmacies could be closed
in the wake of the controversy.