Assemblymembers Van Drew and Cruz-Perez

VAN DREW/CRUZ-PEREZ BILL PROTECTING PATIENTS
FROM PRESCRIPTION DRUG ERRORS PASSES ASEMBLY
'Pharmacy Quality Improvement and Error Prevention Act'
Would Create Task Force to Establish Greater Accountability, Reporting of Errors

(TRENTON) -- The Assembly today approved legislation Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew and Assemblywoman Nilsa Cruz-Perez sponsored to prevent prescription-drug-related errors that can cause patients to experience adverse health conditions or fatalities.

The measure (A-1025) would create a 23-member Medication Error Prevention Task Force to recommend systematic changes to improve the delivery of prescription drugs and decrease the number of pharmaceutical errors that annually occur in New Jersey.

"To err is human, but pharmaceutical mistakes pose serious, life-threatening consequences," said Van Drew (D-Cape May), a licensed 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 be composed of eight 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 17 public members, with five members appointed by the Governor, and six members each appointed by the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the General Assembly.

Dubbed the "The Pharmacy Quality Improvement and Error Prevention Act," the bill would establish a vehicle to establish guidelines for the Board of Pharmacy to utilize in implementing medication error prevention, pharmacy quality improvement, and consumer education programs. The task force also would address which medication errors pharmacists should report to the Board of Pharmacy and the time frame under which errors should be reported.

In addition, the task force would determine educational courses and penalties appropriate for pharmacists who make medication errors.

A study of 102 complaints of errors that were reviewed by the state Board of Pharmacy found that 40 consumers received the wrong medicine, 27 patients were given improperly labeled prescriptions, and 17 other patients were given the wrong dosages. The remaining patients were supplied with expired medicines or were shortchanged in the prescriptions.

"As we become more reliant on prescription drugs to improve our quality of life, the likelihood for errors also increases," said Cruz-Perez (D-Camden). "Greater protections are needed to ensure that medicines produce their desired effects and do not have unintended, dire consequences."

The Van Drew/Cruz-Perez bill would require all pharmacies in the state to implement final task force guidelines within six months of their establishment.

The Board of Pharmacy also would be required to provide informational materials to consumers and pharmacies regarding medication errors.

The measure was drafted in response to a 2002 series of articles in The Press of Atlantic City that chronicled how patients were harmed by faulty prescriptions caused by improper labeling or dosage, increased pharmacist workloads, and other mistakes.

"These reports gave a glimpse into the real-life tragedies of patients who were prescribed one medication but received another or the wrong dosage," said Van Drew.

The newspaper detailed how a baby was given medicine that was too strong for his small body, how an elderly woman died because her drug dosage was five times the prescribed level, and how another woman's mislabeled pills led her to take two-years worth of a chemotherapy drug in just 21 days.

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 measure was approved 76 to 0. It now heads to the Senate for further consideration.

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