"Dear Eric,
The Nurse Practitioner Association of Canada has been working with Health Canada to address a barrier regarding designated drugs and other anabolic steroids.
Effective November 29, 2023, two new exemptions have been issued under subsection 56(1) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA). These exemptions:
Permit practitioners, as defined in the CDSA, to prescribe designated drugs for therapeutic use, regardless of the list of conditions in subsection G.04.001(3) of the Food and Drug Regulations;
Note: this exemption applies to doctors of medicine, dentistry, or veterinary medicine and to nurse practitioners but does not apply to midwives and podiatrists who are not currently authorized to prescribe designated drugs (as per the New Classes of Practitioners Regulations)
Enable nurse practitioners to prescribe and possess anabolic steroids other than testosterone (e.g. DHEA, also known as prasterone) for therapeutic use.
It is our hope that these exemptions will provide greater flexibility for nurse practitioners to treat their patients in accordance with the Food and Drugs Act as well as provincial/territorial laws and scopes of practice.
The exemptions should be posted online in the coming weeks.
Please feel free to share this update with colleagues.
Kind regards,
Dr. Stan Marchuk, DNP, MN, NP(F), FAANP
President"