Ban on loyalty points for drug prescriptions in B.C. upheld by court

B.C. shoppers won't be able to load up on Air Miles and other bonus points when they fill their prescriptions after a Supreme Court of Canada decision today.

On Thursday morning the court decided that it will not hear the appeal of a lower court ruling that upheld the ban on offering incentive programs to customers filling prescriptions.

The legal challenge was launched by Sobeys West, which operates the Safeway and Thrifty Foods grocery chains in B.C., after the B.C. College of Pharmacists banned its members from tying prescriptions to customer incentives.

The college banned the points program because it considered it to be unethical, unsafe and unprofessional.

Sobeys had argued there was no evidence of actual harm justifying such a broad ban, and that the ban went beyond what would be required to address any theoretical harms.

The Supreme Court of British Columbia struck down the ban for being too broad and unreasonable in 2014, but that ruling was then set aside by the Appeal Court of B.C. in January.

Sobeys then asked the Supreme Court of Canada to hear its appeal of the case.

With the Supreme Court of Canada's decision to not hear this appeal, the College of Pharmacists' bylaws are allowed to stand and B.C. buyers will not be allowed to earn points on drug purchases at pharmacies.

While B.C. shoppers will not be able to earn loyalty points, programs in other provinces such as Alberta remain in place.