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Washington News: Board Sets New Responsibilities Rules
Published in the July 2007 Washington State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter
The Washington State Board of Pharmacy adopted a new rule in April and amended another rule on pharmacies’ responsibilities. We anticipate that these rules will be in effect mid to late July 2007. Copies of the rules can be found on the Board’s Web site: https://fortress.wa.gov/doh/hpqa1/HPS4/Pharmacy/default.htm.
The Board adopted these rules to promote patient safety. They help ensure patients have access to lawful, appropriate medications without delay. The rules outline the responsibilities of pharmacists and pharmacies in providing medicine. The rules also lay out the options a pharmacist and pharmacy have when a drug is not in stock.
The subject of these rules has prompted discussions across the country. In 2005, the Board began getting inquiries on pharmacists refusing to dispense drugs and devices because of moral or ethical objections. Washington State pharmacy laws and rules were silent on this issue.
The Board began the rulemaking process in January 2006. It considered the need for rules to define standards of patient care and professional conduct when a pharmacist’s personal objections conflicted with the patient’s access to legally prescribed medications.
In April 2006, the Board held stakeholder workshops in eastern and western Washington to get input for proposed rules. The Board drafted a proposal and then amended it several times during the summer based on information from the rule workshops. The Board received comments and testimony from both sides of the issue.
WAC 246-869-010 Pharmacies’ Responsibilities
This rule states that pharmacies have a duty to provide legally prescribed drugs and devices, or provide a therapeutically equivalent one in a timely manner. The rule requires a pharmacy to provide patients options when a pharmacist cannot dispense. The rule gives examples of when it may be appropriate for a pharmacy not to provide lawful prescribed drugs or their equivalent.
The medicine may not be customarily needed by the pharmacy’s patients or temporarily out-of-stock. The rule requires pharmacies to give patients a timely alternative when the drug is not in stock. It does not allow a pharmacy to refer a patient to another pharmacy to avoid filling the prescription due to moral or ethical objections.
The rule provides grounds for discipline when a pharmacy engages in or permits unprofessional conduct.
WAC 246-863-095 Pharmacist’s Professional Responsibilities
The Board amended this rule to make it a pharmacist’s primary responsibility to ensure patients get safe and appropriate medication therapy.
The amendments prohibit a pharmacist from delegating to pharmacy support staff the decision to not dispense a lawful prescribed drug or device. It provides grounds for discipline when a pharmacist, pharmacy intern, or other pharmacy employee commits or permits unprofessional conduct.
Copies of the rule language and a guidance document will be provided to each pharmacist and pharmacy in Washington State. You can also get the information at the Board’s Web site:
https://fortress.wa.gov/doh/hpqa1/HPS4/Pharmacy/default.htm. [WAC 246-869-010 and WAC 246-863-095]
