Governor Gretchen Whitmer on Wednesday signed an executive order allowing pharmacists to offer emergency refills of prescription medications during the coronavirus outbreak.
The order would allow pharmacists to refill up to a 60-day supply of any non-controlled maintenance medication.
Larry Wagenknecht is with the Michigan Pharmacist’s Association.
“This tries to address the situation where a patient no longer has refills on one of their medications,” he said. “It would allow the pharmacist to dispense a supply without requiring the patient going back to a face to face encounter with their primary care providers.”
Wagenkecht said the order will allow pharmacists to continue making refills as needed - depending on how long the coronavirus crisis continues.
“Obviously if it’s a controlled substance or if it’s something the patient is having problems with, the pharmacist is going to direct the patient back to the prescriber to try and have that situation addressed.”
In a written statement Governor Whitmer said that “no Michigander should be worried about running out of critical medications during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Under the order insurers would be expected to cover the emergency refills.