Pharmacist Association wants stricter prescription laws

wkbn.com/2017/03/19/pharmacist-association-asks-for-help-in-filling-prescriptions/

NILES, Ohio (WKBN) – The Eastern Ohio Pharmacist Association held its annual meeting Sunday.

The EOPA — which is made up of six counties, including Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull — says pharmacists are busy.

“Some of these pharmacies fill 700, 800 prescriptions a day,” Ray Carlson of RC Compounding said.

The EOPA is asking the state board of pharmacies not to allow technicians to sign off on prescriptions. It’s happening in other states, but they don’t want so in Ohio.

“We see it as a further means of removing the pharmacist from this human interaction and putting it in the hands of two technicians,” Carlson said.

Carlson says only 5-10 percent of pharmacies are complying with rules regarding patient profiling and counseling — meaning sitting down with patients and talking to them about what they are taking and how they feel.

“The laws and rules suggest there really needs to be some level of human interaction happening so the pharmacist can make these determinations,” Carlson said.

Ohio Pharmacists Association Executive Director Ernest Boyd was at Sunday’s meeting.

He has seen the resolution.

“We are fine with technicians to make sure we can get the time to talk to the patient,” Boyd said. “But when it comes to checking each other and releasing it to the public, we still have some concern.”

The next step for the EOPA’s officers is to take it to the state pharmacy board to consider.

The state board meets next month.

Filed under: General Problems