Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew

VAN DREW: NEW REPORT UNDERSCORES NEED TO ENACT PRESCRIPTION-ERROR PREVENTION BILL
Assemblyman Redoubling Efforts to Secure Passage of Legislation
As Senior Citizens Are at Highest Risk of Encountering Prescription Drug Errors

(TRENTON) -- Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew today said a new report lends further credence to his ongoing legislative efforts aimed at decreasing the number of pharmaceutical errors that annually occur in New Jersey. Van Drew vowed to redouble his efforts to enact stronger consumer protections against drug errors in the wake of the report's finding.
Medco Health Solutions Inc. -- one of the largest prescription benefit management firms in the country -- today issued the results of a study showing that senior citizens are most at risk of encountering errors with prescription medicines because they take more medicines than younger people and because they tend to have more doctors.

The study found that patients over age 65 have drug error rates nearly seven times greater than individuals under age 65. The study also showed that one out of four seniors filled prescriptions at more than three pharmacies.

Van Drew (D-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic) said the Medco findings underscore why New Jersey needs to step up efforts to shield seniors and other consumers from potential repercussions of prescription drug errors. Van Drew has sought such improvements through legislation (A-1025) he crafted to implement medication error prevention, pharmacy quality improvement, and consumer education programs in the state.

"With more than a million seniors, it's clearer more than ever that New Jersey needs to do more to prevent drug errors," said Van Drew. "This new report should lend new impetus for passing the bill and creating a task force made up by individuals with the expertise to identify better safeguards that will prevent injuries and deaths among consumers of prescription medicines."

Van Drew has sought to enact pharmaceutical-error-prevention legislation since 2002, when The Press of Atlantic City published a series of articles chronicling how patients are harmed by faulty prescriptions caused by improper labeling or dosage, increased pharmacist workloads, and other mistakes.

Dubbed the "The Pharmacy Quality Improvement and Error Prevention Act," the bill would create a 24-member Medication Error Prevention Task Force that establish guidelines for the state Board of Pharmacy to utilize in an effort to improve the delivery of prescription drugs and decrease pharmaceutical errors.

The bill would require registered pharmacists to report possible errors to the board and impose penalties for violations. The bills directs the task force to address which medication errors pharmacists should report to the Board of Pharmacy and create a time frame under which such errors should be reported.

Assemblywomen Nilsa Cruz Perez (D-Camden) and Pamela Lampitt (D-Cherry Hill) also are sponsors of the bill.

"To err is human, but pharmaceutical mistakes pose serious, life-threatening consequences," said Van Drew, a licensed and practicing dentist. "Pharmaceutical errors should not be shrugged off as trivial, rare occurrences, particularly when dealing with drugs that can stop a heart, trigger allergic reactions, or lead to a patient's death."

The task force would include members from associations that have expertise on prescription drugs, including the Division of Consumer Affairs, the state Board of Pharmacy, the state Board of Medical Examiners, and the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy at Rutgers. The panel also would have public members appointed by the Governor, the Senate President, and the Assembly Speaker.

According to the Pharmacists Mutual Insurance Co., 50.4 percent of malpractice lawsuits filed against pharmacists stem from the wrong drug being dispensed to patients. The second-largest category for malpractice claims against pharmacists -- 24.4 percent of pharmacy lawsuits -- is for dispensing drugs in strengths that are different from that prescribed by a physician.

The Assembly passed the Van Drew/Cruz Perez/Lampitt measure in March. The measure is now awaiting consideration in the Senate Commerce Committee.
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CONTACT:
Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew
(609) 381-6150 or 465-0700
Alescia Teel
(609) 292-7065