Back in Jan 2012 The Pharmacy Alliance sent emails to 51 BOP’s requesting them to consider 9 points to implement that should help improve patient safety and lessen medication errors in the pharmacy… here is that letter.
This week the TPA got a response from the Wyoming BOP.. letter attached… Apparently this BOP back in 2011 promulgated rule changes to the practice act.. MANDATING breaks if the RPH works more than SIX HOURS… they get rest/meal breaks. The governor, Matt Mead , decided to use his authority to remove this particular change from the proposal.. stating that the BOP didn’t have the authority to make any mandates that affect the work environment.
I guess that he should know… his educational background is as an attorney..
However, after watching all the recent Congressional hearings with our US Attorney General (Eric Holder) and other attorneys that have been drug though the public spot light over issues of their personal misbehaving… getting down to what the definition of what “is” is.. I am becoming more and more skeptical of attorneys that turn bureaucrat and what motivates them.
Of course, as an attorney, Governor Mead may have known no other work environment than where you have a office door that you can close, a phone that you can put on DO NOT DISTURB and a secretary/receptionist that stands between him and the rest of the world.
Here is a list of his campaign donations… apparently Governor Mead ponied up 1.2 MILLION to get a job that pays 105K for four years. I don’t have a MBA… but the math doesn’t seem to work out… there must be some intangible ROI (Return on investment)
Campaign donors
Ballotpedia collects information on campaign donors for each year in which a candidate or incumbent is running for election. The following table offers a breakdown of Matt Mead’s donors each year.[6] Click [show] for more information.
| [hide]Matt Mead’s Campaign Contributions | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 Governor of Wyoming |
|||||||||||||||||||
| Total Raised | $1,809,468 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Total Raised by General Election Opponent | |||||||||||||||||||
| Top 5 contributors | Matthew Mead | $1,220,000 | |||||||||||||||||
| Conpac Contractors PAC | $13,250 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Free & Strong America PAC | $10,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Union Pacific Railroad | $5,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Arch Coal Inc | $5,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Individuals | $463,822 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Institutions | $100,527 | ||||||||||||||||||
| In-state donations | $1,680,621 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Out-of-state donations | $128,797 | ||||||||||||||||||
Of course, he could just being loyal to his chosen profession… right now law schools are graduating 45K students when the demand is 28K annually… If you make the practice of pharmacy safer.. mandating rest breaks… that could mean fewer medication errors… fewer medication errors could mean fewer lawsuits and legal settlements… which could mean fewer $$$ for attorneys who would have filed/settled all those lawsuits over medication errors…
We may never know .. what the underlying logic is as to why the safety of the public in Wyoming in regards to medication errors in the pharmacy.. seemingly takes a low priority. We can only speculate !!!
I am sure that all RPH’s appreciate the WY BOP in regards to attempting to make the practice of pharmacy safer… perhaps.. this BOP.. can seek changes to the practice act that will allow them to legally make changes to the practice act in regards to breaks. Both NC and Oregon have done it.
Filed under: General dumb-ass problems
[…] Also… Wyoming BOP tried to mandate meal breaks for Pharmacists … only to have the Governor line item veto… the rule… claiming that the BOP did not have the authority to mandate meal breaks. https://www.pharmaciststeve.com/?p=1333 […]