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Oregon News: Emergency Schedule II Prescriptions
Published in the November 2008 Oregon State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter
Approximately one year ago, the Board of Pharmacy presented an article to the Oregon Board of Medical Examiners for inclusion in its newsletter describing the practitioner’s responsibility when calling in an emergency verbal prescription order for a Schedule II controlled substance. Authorization for a pharmacist to accept a telephone order for a Schedule II prescription, as described in 21 CFR 1306.11(d), applies to emergency situations only. Under this rule, the prescription order can be accomplished by verbal instructions from the practitioner. The pharmacist must immediately reduce the verbal prescription order to writing, and the quantity dispensed can only be sufficient to cover the emergency period. Therefore, an additional prescription order must be executed for any continuation of therapy. The prescriber who initiated the emergency verbal prescription order must provide the pharmacist with a manually signed prescription for the emergency supply within seven days. The signed emergency prescription must have written on its face, “authorization for emergency dispensing” and the date of the verbal order.
In an emergency situation, direct communication between the prescriber and the pharmacist is crucial because a variety of questions may need to be clarified before the prescription can be accurately dispensed. Prescribers are strongly urged to call the pharmacist to avoid a delay in dispensing the medication to the patient. This also applies to orders that are communicated by the prescriber to the long-term care facility that is in turn faxed to the pharmacist.
As a reminder, a manually signed and faxed Schedule II prescription order may serve as the original for a patient residing in a long-term care facility.
