Quebec pharmacists remain far from settlement in prescription-writing fee dispute

A lab technician counts pills at a pharmacy in Quebec City on Thursday, March 8, 2012. (Jacques Boissinot / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

MONTREAL - The endless on-again, off-again negotiations between the provincial government and Quebec pharmacists - who are supposed to get the right to write certain prescriptions as of September 3 - might be finally advancing.

Quebec Health Minister Réjean Hébert and the Quebec Association of Pharmacy Owners (AQPP) broke off talks Thursday but subsequent telephone conversations between the two sides appear to have reopened the door to a possible resolution.

The AQPP acknowledged Friday that exchanges had taken place and said that they hoped true negotiations would resume within a few days.

The AQPP quit talks Thursday over a dispute about the right of pharmacists to perform certain blood tests.

The parties have been trying for months to negotiate fees to provide some additional services, such as assessing whether a customer needs a medication for minor ailments.

Under the new rules, pharmacists are not allowed to diagnose any medical condition.

Pharmacists had threatened to charge patients for the delivery of new services as of September 3 if no agreement is reached.

-With a file from The Canadian Press