A health regulator in British Columbia has suspended a Dawson Creek acupuncturist for two months after finding she prescribed medication she was not authorised to give her patients, CBC News reported Wednesday evening.
The regulatory college found that Katie Johnston prescribed ivermectin to her patients without having the authority to do so. She also prescribed fenbendazole, another drug used to treat animal parasites, according to the regulator's findings.
Ivermectin is approved for specific human uses but is also sold in veterinary formulations for deworming animals — the distinction that has made it a recurring flashpoint for health regulators since the pandemic. Practitioners may only prescribe within the scope of practice their licence allows, and acupuncture licences in B.C. do not include prescribing drugs of this kind.
The two-month suspension is the college's sanction after its inquiry. Regulators say scope-of-practice rules exist so that prescribing decisions — which carry risks of drug interactions and delayed proper treatment — are made by clinicians trained and accountable for them.
The case was reported by CBC's Akshay Kulkarni on Wednesday. Patients who received medication from any practitioner outside that practitioner's scope are typically advised to speak with their family doctor or pharmacist about what they were given.
