ALBANO/VAINIERI HUTTLE ‘PHARMACY QUALITY IMPROVEMENT AND ERROR PREVENTION ACT’ ADVANCES

(TRENTON) – Legislation Assembly members Nelson T. Albano and Valerie Vainieri Huttle sponsored to reduce the number of errors made when prescribing, dispensing, and taking prescription medication was released today from the Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee by a vote of 5-0.

“A mistake in the strength, type, or compatibility of prescription medication can exact a devastating toll on both the health of a patient and the well-being of his or her family,” said Albano (D-Cumberland). “To preserve the public’s faith in their medical caregivers, we must do more to prevent these types of mistakes before they occur.”

According to the Institute of Medicine, at least 1.5 million Americans are sickened, injured, or killed each year as a result of preventable prescription medication errors. Over the course of the last decade, the number of complaints filed with the New Jersey State Board of Pharmacy has more than doubled.

The Albano/Vainieri Huttle measure – the “Pharmacy Quality Improvement and Error Prevention Act” (A-1803) – would establish a 24-member Medication Error Prevention Task Force that would provide guidelines for the state Board of Pharmacy on medication error prevention, pharmacy quality improvement and consumer education programs.

The guidelines would specifically address the types of situations in which:

• a pharmacist should be required to report that a medication-related error has occurred;

• the appropriate information that should be included in such a report;

• the appropriate timeframe for filing such a report; and

• circumstances would require pharmacy personnel to satisfactorily complete education courses aimed at reducing medication-related errors.

The guidelines also would require pharmacists to report possible errors to the board, set penalties for violations and hold pharmacists who report errors harmless unless the error was made intentionally.

The board would be required to create an informational brochure to be displayed in pharmacies to help educate and inform consumers about what they can do to help improve their medication safety and prevent medication errors from occurring.

The measure also would require the board to study the feasibility of requiring all prescriptions to either be typed out or be transmitted from doctors to pharmacists directly via phone or e-mail.

“While mistakes can happen from time to time, sick individuals have a reasonable expectation to assume their health will be improved – not worsened – by a trip to the pharmacy,” said Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen). “We must work to ensure the only thing individuals need to worry about when they get sick is getting better.”

The bill now heads to the Assembly Speaker, who decides if and when to post it for a floor vote.