NABP Clearinghouse Sees More Than 100% Increase in Disciplinary Actions Reported by Boards of Pharmacy During First Quarter

July 12, 2011 3:28 PM

Originally published in the June-July 2011 NABP Newsletter

Reporting trends continue to reflect consistent efforts by boards of pharmacy to report disciplinary actions to the NABP Clearinghouse. During first quarter 2011, a total of 1,584 actions were reported to the NABP Clearinghouse, with 990, or 62.5%, of these taken against pharmacists and the remaining 594, or 37.5%, taken against pharmacy technicians. This is an increase of 117.3% when compared to 729 actions reported during the same time period in 2010.

Of the 1,584 actions, probation of license accounted for nearly a quarter of the actions recorded with 367, or 23.2%. Revocation of license was the second most reported with 228, or 14.4%, of the actions reported. At 205, or 12.9%, suspension of license was the third most common action reported to the Clearinghouse.

Additionally, data indicates that of all the actions taken during this time, 18.7% were taken due to violation of federal or state statutes, regulations, or rules. Another 16.2% of the actions reported were taken on the basis of narcotics violations. Consisting of several smaller categories, the miscellaneous category held the highest percentage overall with 23.3%. Error in prescribing, dispensing, or administering medication as a basis of action experienced one of the larger decreases in reporting, with 4.7% in first quarter 2011 compared to 11.1% during first quarter 2010.

Housing a tremendous amount of disciplinary data provided by the state boards of pharmacy and tracking everything from the actions taken to the basis for the actions, the NABP Clearinghouse is constantly updated to serve as a comprehensive resource for the boards. As an added benefit to the boards of pharmacy, NABP offers its services as a reporting agent for the Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank (HIPDB). Currently, 30 boards of pharmacy have designated NABP as their official reporting agent, and NABP is in discussion with other boards to provide this service in the near future. The Association continues to encourage the boards to utilize this reporting service as it may assist in freeing board resources for other important issues.

More information on reporting to the NABP Clearinghouse, as well as designating NABP as a reporting agent for HIPDB, is available on the NABP Web site.