NABP Pushes for Termination Reporting Requirements

State pharmacy regulators acrossthe country may soon be pressing fornew rules requiring pharmacies to alertstate officials whenever the employmentof a pharmacist, pharmacyintern, or pharmacy technician is terminateddue to drug abuse, theft, ordiversion of pharmaceuticals.

A resolution approved by delegatesto the National Association of Boardsof Pharmacy (NABP) calls on stateboards to secure enactment of suchrules to prevent "bad apple" pharmacypersonnel from obtaining prescriptioncounter employment elsewhere.

"It has been the experience of theboards of pharmacy that when a pharmacyterminates employment oflicensees/registrants (pharmacists, interns,or pharmacy technicians) due toa drug-related cause?these individualswill sometimes seek and gain employmentat another pharmacy and subsequentlymay be involved in similar,illegal, and dangerous activities," theNABP stated.

Although some states do alreadyhave such reporting requirements inplace, others that use the Model StatePharmacy Act leave it up to the pharmacistor intern to report changes ofemployment to the state board.

Mr. Rankin is a freelance medical writer.