The pharmaceutical version of the automated banking machine could be coming to Ontario, as the province's pharmacy college took a step toward allowing drug dispensing machines in places where a pharmacist is not present.

On Tuesday, the Ontario College of Pharmacists voted in favour of opening door to the new technology.

Here's how the devices work:

• A person inserts a prescription and communicates with a pharmacist by videoteleconference.
• The prescription is scanned and transmitted to a pharmacist at a call centre that is run by the makers of the machine.
• The pharmacist verifies the prescription, then decides whether to allow the machine to dispense the medication.

The machine contains about 350 of the most commonly prescribed drugs, from Altace to Zoplicone.

"It actually leaves me with more time talking with my patient," said Mima Caruana, one of the remote pharmacists in Oakville, Ont.

During a trial run at Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital this year, hundreds of people used the machine and many doctors and patients were pleased with the results.

Face-to-face contact lost

But under current legislation in Ontario, remote kiosks may only operate in hospitals and clinics. Otherwise, a pharmacist must be physically present when a prescription is filled.

Now that the college has voted for the machines, the next step toward creating regulations is to consult pharmacists.

"My main concern, because our mandate is really solely to protect the public, would be ensure all the safeguards and accountabilities are in place, and that we really are thoughtful about what we are doing to make sure that happens before anything goes to government in the form of regulations," said Deanna Williams, registrar of the Ontario College of Pharmacists.

Many pharmacists are uncomfortable with losing face-to-face contact with patients.

"Someone could really come in stone drunk and alcohol coming off their breath and a pharmacist in a remote location would not catch that and would dispense the medicine anyways," said Brendan Tannenbaum, a pharmacist in Toronto.

"So the number of medicines and which types of medicines hasn't been determined, but I think there are some concerns."

Randy Yates, who is HIV-positive and relies on dozens of pills to stay alive, also has concerns.

"Some things translate well to automation," said Yates. "This isn't one of them. I need that personal connection with my pharmacist."

But proponents of the dispensing machines say a pharmacist on a videophone is better than no pharmacist at all, as is the case in remote areas.

Drug dispensing machines already exist in remote parts of British Columbia and in some U.S. states.