NABP is pleased to announce that the South Dakota prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) is the 12^th prescription monitoring program (PMP) to deploy NABP PMP InterConnect^®.

Patients refilling prescriptions who receive pills of a different color than for a previous prescription may be less likely to adhere to their drug therapy.

The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy® (NABP®) today issued a report about the importance of collaboration among members of the international pharmacy community to protect patients worldwide from dangers posed by illegal online drug sellers. As described in the...

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has launched a free searchable database with information on prescription and over-the-counter drugs, herbals, and dietary supplements associated with liver injury. The LiverTox database is a free resource for health care providers and researchers...

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will hold a workshop on pet medication related issues, including drug safety issues, and seeks public comments on the topic. Among other topics, the workshop will consider how current industry distribution and other business practices...

While drug “shortages remain a serious, complex problem,” Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has made progress in reducing the number of drugs in shortage in the six months since President Obama issued an Executive Order to address the issue. “Early...

Now available online, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day collection site locator allows consumers to search for a convenient location to dispose of unneeded medications, including prescription pain pills and other controlled substance medications, on Saturday,...

More than 40 people die every day due to overdoses involving prescription pain medications, stresses a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Vital Signs report released in November 2011. The report indicates that the death rate from overdoses of...

Consumers disposed of more than 188 tons of unneeded, unwanted, or expired medications at the third National DEA Prescription Drug Take-Back Day coordinated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on October 29, 2011. Law enforcement and community partners coordinated with...

President Obama has issued an executive order that directs Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take steps that will help to prevent and reduce current and future disruptions in the supply of lifesaving medicines. Stressing that “shortages of pharmaceutical drugs...

In the interest of patient safety, the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs (NCPDP) has published a white paper providing recommendations to industry intended to facilitate consistency in labels for both over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription products containing acetaminophen. The paper,...

The next Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day will take place Saturday, October 29, 2011, from 10 AM to 2 PM, and will be the third event coordinated by DEA to help consumers safely dispose of unused,...

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Drug Evaluation and Research has reported on the success of its "Bad Ad" outreach program, launched May 11, 2010, to educate health care providers about their role in ensuring that prescription drug...

FDA is alerting health care providers and patients that a number of medication errors, in which patients were given risperidone (Risperdal®) instead of ropinirole (Requip®) and vice versa, have been reported. Some cases have resulted in patient hospitalization. FDA notes...

To assist law enforcement around the country, information about prescription drug-related crimes may be submitted to the online Rx Tip service launched by the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators (NADDI). Tips submitted using the online form will be routed...

Originally Published in the April 2011 New Jersey State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter To implement the provisions of the New Jersey Prescription Drug Price Registry Act N.J.S.A. 45:14-81, which was signed into law on August 21, 2006, and became effective...

United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) will partner with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Consumer Healthcare Products Association to update quality standards for widely used medications and ingredients. So that test procedures will be revised as needed to reflect...

The next DEA National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day will take place Saturday, April 30, 2011, providing patients a means for safe disposal of unwanted, unused prescription medications – including controlled substances – at authorized locations across the country. The event...

As part of FDA’s Unapproved Drugs Initiative, US Marshals seized all lots of Auralgan® Otic Solution, a prescription drug used to treat pain and inflammation associated with ear infections, from Integrated Commercialization Solutions Inc (ICS) in Brooks, KY on February...

In the interest of patient safety, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has asked drug manufacturers to limit the strength of acetaminophen in prescription drug products – which are predominantly combinations of acetaminophen and opioids – to 325 mg per tablet,...

In partnership with NABP, and as part of its Safe Use Initiative, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) encourages pharmacies to stop using the abbreviation APAP and to spell out the drug name, acetaminophen, in an effort to help patients avoid...

An FDA reminder warns patients and health care providers that concomitant use of Plavix® (clopidogrel) and omeprazole should be avoided due to significant reductions in clopidogrel's effectiveness when the drugs are taken at the same time. FDA also provides additional...

On Saturday, September 25, 2010, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), in partnership with local government, community, public health, and law enforcement agencies, will hold the first-ever nationwide prescription drug take-back day. To help prevent increased rates of prescription drug abuse and...

Reprinted from the October 2009 North Carolina Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. Board staff occasionally are asked about the legitimacy of prescriptions for controlled substances written by a clinical pharmacist practitioner (CPP). There are typically two questions asked: 1. May a...

Published in the September 2009 Delaware State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter The Board is still seeing noncompliant prescriptions written by Delaware practitioners. As you are aware, on June 20, 2002, House Bill 522 was signed into law. This law changed...

Reprinted from the July 2009 New Jersey Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. The Board recently received an inquiry regarding the authority of nurses in assisted living facilities to telephone pharmacies with verbal prescription orders taken from the prescriber. N.J.A.C. 13:39-7.10 lists...

Reprinted from the July 2009 Nevada State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. Effective July 1, 2009, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Amendments Act of 2007 mandates that pharmacies must provide the patient, on all new and refill prescriptions, with the...

Published in the June 2009 Delaware State Board of Pharmacy News The Delaware State Board of Pharmacy has received a number of questions regarding the rules and requirements for the administration of injectable medications. As a review, please see the...

Reprinted from the April 2009 North Carolina Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. (Editor’s note: Board staff thanks Nancy Hemphill, special projects coordinator, North Carolina Medical Board, for authoring this item.) The North Carolina Medical Board is frequently asked whether a physician...

Reprinted from the April 2009 Minnesota Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. During the 2006 legislative session, health licensing boards were directed to remind licensees, at least annually, of the price disclosure requirements of section Minnesota Statutes 62J.052 or 151.214, as applicable....

Published in the March 2009 Idaho State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter 1. What are the prescription transmission rules for legend drugs in general? Refer to Idaho Statute 54.1733(d). The options are summarized as follows: Original practitioner-signed prescription Fax of original...

Published in the March 2009 Kansas State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter On November 19, 2007, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) published in the Federal Register the Final Rule entitled Issuance of Multiple Prescriptions for Schedule II Controlled Substances (72 FR 64921)....

Published in the March 2009 Delaware State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter As a reminder, multiple Schedule II prescriptions for the same patient with different dates are permitted. Prescriptions must be written with the date of issue, may not exceed 90...

Published in the December 2008 Kansas State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter In March 2007, the legislative pharmacists on the Kansas State House and Senate were instrumental in removing the requirement that a prescription for amphetamines or sympathomimetic amines designated in...

Published in the December 2008 Idaho State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter Rule 447.03 requires that “additional quantities of controlled substances . . . only be authorized . . . through the issuance of a new prescription.” Statute 54-1732 (3)(b) mandates...

Published in the December 2008 Idaho State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter On November 19, 2007, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) stated in a preamble to the Final Rule on Issuance of Multiple Prescriptions for Schedule II Controlled Substances that “the essential...

Published in the November 2008 Alabama State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter For further information, refer to the Federal Register Vol. 73, No. 2 published January 3, 2008 Manufacturers of drug products, authorized dispensers, and pharmacies, will be required to provide...

Reprinted from the October 2008 New Jersey Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. The National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCC MERP) defines a medication error as “any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use...

Reprinted from the October 2008 Nevada State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. The scenario is as follows: A patient tenders a Schedule II prescription within the 14-day window as required and asks the pharmacist to hold it for filling at a...

Reprinted from the October 2008 Montana Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. Sooner or later every pharmacist will have to deal with a fraudulent prescription. When the validity of a prescription is an issue, after the practitioner has been contacted and it...

Published in the September 2008 Vermont Board of Pharmacy Newsletter (Title 18 VSA §4215. Authorized Sales By Pharmacists) In the last three years the Board of Pharmacy has received numerous comments and complaints about the rule that required prescriptions for...

Published in the September 2008 Vermont Board of Pharmacy Newsletter Note: Rules about electronic transmissions of prescriptions are being revised. Please consult the Board of Pharmacy Web site for the current status of the revisions to the rules. Schedule II...

Published in the September 2008 Kentucky Board of Pharmacy Newsletter KRS 217.216, 218A.180(4), and 902 KAR 55:105 require the following items on a written prescription for a controlled substance: Date of issue Quantity check-off boxes marked Patient’s name Directions for...

Published in the September 2008 Delaware State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter Transfer of Controlled Substances between Pharmacies 21 CFR 1306.25 (a) The transfer of original prescription information for a controlled substance listed in Schedules III, IV, or V for refill...

Reprinted from the July 2008 North Carolina Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. A number of pharmacists have contacted North Carolina Board of Pharmacy staff to ask whether it is legal to fill a prescription for methadone at a 40 mg strength...

Reprinted form the April 2008 Montana Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. DEA has issued a final rule entitled “Issuance of Multiple Prescriptions for Schedule II Controlled Substances,” effective December 19, 2007. Practitioners may now provide a patient with multiple prescriptions for...

Published in the April 2008 South Dakota State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter Effective December 19, 2007, Drug Enforcement Administration released a new rule amendment to Title 21 Code of Federal Regulations Part 1306 authorizing prescribers to provide individual patients with...

Reprinted from the April 2008 Minnesota Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. Last year, Congress enacted a section of law that requires all paper Medicaid prescriptions to be written or printed on tamper-resistant pads or paper. (Unless they are transmitted electronically or...

Reprinted form the April 2008 Nevada State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. Effective December 19, 2007, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced that it will once again be legal for practitioners to write up to a 90-day supply of a Schedule II...

Published in the March 2008 Idaho Board of Pharmacy Newsletter Effective December 19, 2007, DEA amended a regulation to allow practitioners to provide an individual patient with multiple prescriptions for a specific Schedule II CS, written on the same date,...

Reprinted from the January 2008 New Jersey Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. Even though the change in Drug Enforcement Administration regulations (21 CFR §1306.12) effective December 19, 2007, which allows a practitioner the ability to provide multiple prescriptions for the same...

Published in the January 2008 Washington State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter DEA amended regulations to allow practitioners to provide individual patients with multiple prescriptions for the same Schedule II CS written on the same date, to be filled sequentially. The...

Published in the December 2007 Idaho Board of Pharmacy Newsletter 54-1733 Validity of Prescription Drug Orders reads: A prescription or drug order may be issued either: (a) By a practitioner acting in the usual course of his profession; or (b)...

Published in the November 2007 Ohio State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter Please remember that rule 4729-5-30 (Manner of Issuance of a Prescription) of the Ohio Administrative Code requires that all hard-copy (written) prescriptions must be manually signed by the prescriber....

Reprinted from the October 2007 Nevada State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. Pharmacists and pharmaceutical technicians engaged in filling prescriptions are required to put their handwritten initials on original prescriptions to document who filled the prescriptions. Many registrants believe computer-generated initials...

Reprinted from the October 2007 Montana Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. The Board receives many calls about the administration and dispensing of methadone and Suboxone® (buprenorphine and naloxone). Methadone may be used for the treatment of pain, and any pharmacy may...

Published in the September 2007 Vermont Board of Pharmacy Newsletter Pharmacy Board Rule 19.3.4 states: “Carbon or duplicate prescriptions are not valid prescriptions.” The purpose of this rule is to prohibit individuals from making copies of an original prescription and...

Reprinted from the July 2007 Nevada State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. Board staff has received consumer complaints regarding a pharmacist refusing to supply diabetic supplies (test strips, meters, etc) on prescriptions that do not have the brand to be dispensed...

Reprinted from the July 2007 Nevada State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. Due to a recent inquiry by a national news division, we were asked to tally serious patient injuries and/or deaths reported to the Nevada State Board of Pharmacy that...

Published in the June 2007 Kentucky Board of Pharmacy Newsletter Beginning March 9, 2007, additional limitations were placed on the prescriptive authority of advanced registered nurse practitioners (ARNP) for controlled substances (CS) by the Kentucky Board of Nursing. Following are...

Published in the March 2007 Vermont Board of Pharmacy Newsletter The simple answer is no. Prescription medication must be dispensed to a patient. If a pharmacist is transferring prescription medication to a physician’s office in order for the physician to...

Published in the March 2007 Vermont Board of Pharmacy Newsletter The Board of Pharmacy would like to clarify the rules regarding faxed Schedule II prescriptions for a hospice patient. According to the federal Controlled Substances Act as found in Code...

Published in the March 2007 New Mexico Board of Pharmacy Newsletter Lately, forged prescriptions for either large quantities or high strengths of both OxyContin® and Percocet® have been presented to be filled. The presenters are often young adults or juveniles...

Published in the March 2007 New Mexico Board of Pharmacy Newsletter When a prescriber writes a prescription for a dangerous drug, the quantity written on the prescription is the quantity that must be dispensed unless the pharmacist contacts the prescriber...

Published in the December 2007 Vermont Board of Pharmacy Newsletter The purpose of the memorandum is to answer some questions and clarify a few issues that have recently been brought to the Board’s attention. Topics covered include the Board’s rules...

Reprinted from the January 2007 New Jersey Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. Regulations promulgated by the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners outline the requirements of all written prescriptions in the state of New Jersey, including Schedule II prescriptions. According to...

Published in the January 2007 Oklahoma State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter Controlled Dangerous Substances (CDS) Identification (ID) Requirements: As of February 1, 2007, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics & Dangerous Drugs (OBNDD) will be checking for customer IDs on control...

Published in the December 2006 Idaho Board of Pharmacy Newsletter 54-1733. VALIDITY OF PRESCRIPTION DRUG ORDERS. (1) A Prescription or drug order for a legend drug is not valid unless it is issued for a legitimate medical purpose arising from...

Published in the October 2006 Washington State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter A question we frequently receive: In an emergency, can a pharmacist dispense a Schedule II substance with oral authorization from the prescriber? The general rule for Schedule II CS...

Published in the October 2006 South Dakota State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter If you receive a prescription and, after reasonable inquiry, suspect the prescription is forged, altered, fraudulently misrepresented (eg, false name), or the prescription transaction is not in accordance...

Published in the September 2006 Idaho Board of Pharmacy Newsletter After much discussion between the Idaho Board of Pharmacy and the Idaho Pharmacists Association, the following changes were made to Rule 464 concerning the filling of controlled substance (CS) prescriptions....

Reprinted from the July 2006 North Carolina Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. Electronic prescribing is an increasing fact of life in pharmacy practice today. Many pharmacists are confused, though, about whether or not and under what circumstances e-prescribing is permissible for...

Reprinted from the July 2006 North Carolina Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. Board staff has received several recent inquiries about the need for a prescriber’s Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) number on a prescription for a non-controlled substance. NCGS §134.1 requires that...

Published in the July 2006 Washington State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter Recent legislation has expanded the definition of a “legible prescription” in Revised Code of Washington 69.41.010. This definition requires all prescriptions to be hand printed, typewritten, or electronically generated....

Published in the June 2006 Delaware State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter There have been a number of recent inquiries and some confusion regarding the validity of faxing controlled substance (CS) prescriptions from a practitioner’s office to a pharmacy. The faxing...

Published in the June 2006 Idaho Board of Pharmacy Newsletter HB 611 adds language that further clarifies what constitutes the validity of a prescription drug order. 54-1733. Validity Of Prescription Drug Orders 1. A prescription or drug order for a...

Published in the June 2006 Delaware State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. There have been a number of recent inquiries and some confusion regarding the validity of faxing controlled substance (CS) prescriptions from a practitioner’s office to a pharmacy. The faxing...

Reprinted from the April 2006 Nevada State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. Based on a review of spontaneous reports submitted to Food and Drug Administration, the World Health Organization, and the United States Pharmocopeia, prescriptions for Topamax® (topiramate) and Toprol-XL® (metoprolol...

Reprinted from the April 2006 Nevada State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. Interestingly, the Controlled Substance Abuse Task Force often receives calls from pharmacists questioning whether or not the prescription they just filled was fraudulent (and often it is). It seems...

Published in the March 2006 Idaho Board of Pharmacy Newsletter Idaho Board of Pharmacy Rule 454 states that “No person shall prescribe, administer, or furnish a [CS] for himself.” However, some of the medical boards have further restrictions in their...

Reprinted from the January 2006 Montana Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. On June 23, 2005, a final rule on the Drug Addiction Treatment Act was published. Pursuant to this rule, qualifying physicians (doctor of medicine or doctor of osteopathy) may prescribe...

Reprinted from the January 2006 Montana Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. Pharmacists have a responsibility to ensure that controlled substances (CS) are dispensed pursuant to legitimate medical needs while preventing their diversion into the illicit market. Prescription pads can be stolen,...