Ohio Board Limits Number of Prescription Transfers In Interest of Patient Safety

January 6, 2011 3:09 PM Topics: Patient safety and Prescription transfer

In the interest of patient safety and to address prescription drug abuse, the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy has implemented a rule stipulating that prescriptions may only be transferred one time. As stated in the revised rule, effective January 1, 2011, “copies of prescriptions for dangerous drugs, including both non-controlled substances and controlled substances, shall only be transferred one time.” The rule also states “Pharmacies electronically sharing a real time, online database may transfer a prescription up to the maximum number of refills permitted by law and the prescriber's authorization" as specified in the rule. William T. Winsley, MS, RPh, executive director of the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy told Drug Topics that the rule was modified to address the use of multiple transfers by people abusing prescription drugs, and other patient safety issues. The text of the rule is available on the Board’s Web site by downloading the document, “Rule Changes Effective January 1, 2011” (PDF) and scrolling to rule “4729-5-24 PRESCRIPTION COPY.”