Well, this is Canada. I wonder if this isn't an attempt by government to reduce pressure on the socialized health care system by having patients bypass physicians for commonly perscribed medications. It would save the government system some $$$.
Sounds very plausible. It's a terrible tragedy that this is being done at the risk to the patients, however. By removing the person from the healthcare chain who not only is intimately familiar with the patient's complete medical history but also is uniquely trained, equipped and staffed to evaluate and assess the patient's current condition based upon factors and etiologies far more diverse and broadly based than those pertaining to pharmacology, it will only be a matter of time before there will be some undesirable and entirely preventable outcomes.