S. 778 - Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2005

[paineinthearse]

Support this bill. It prevents "obstructionist pharmacists" (my term, maybe I should copyright it?) from refusing to fill valid prescriptions (read contraceptives)! It's a Democratic bill, which means it will never receive a committee hearing.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c109:3:./temp/~c109gdZgw5::

109th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 778
To amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to require a pharmacy that receives payments or has contracts under the medicare and medicaid programs to ensure that all valid prescriptions are filled without unnecessary delay or interference.


IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

April 13, 2005
Mrs. BOXER (for herself and Mr. LAUTENBERG) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance



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A BILL
To amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to require a pharmacy that receives payments or has contracts under the medicare and medicaid programs to ensure that all valid prescriptions are filled without unnecessary delay or interference.


Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2005'.

SEC. 2. MEDICARE PHARMACY REQUIREMENTS.

(a) In General- Title XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

`PHARMACY REQUIREMENTS

`SEC. 1898. (a) Requirements- No payment (as defined in subsection (b)(1)) may be made to a pharmacy unless the pharmacy complies with the following requirements:

`(1) VALID PRESCRIPTIONS FILLED- The pharmacy ensures that each valid prescription is filled without unnecessary delay or other interference, consistent with the normal timeframe for filling prescriptions.

`(2) PRESCRIBED ITEM NOT IN STOCK- The pharmacy ensures that, if the prescribed item is not in the pharmacy's stock, the pharmacy will order such item without unnecessary delay or, if the patient prefers, the pharmacy will transfer the prescription to a local pharmacy of the patient's choice or return the prescription to the patient, at the patient's request.

`(b) Definitions- For purposes of this section:

`(1) PAYMENT- For purposes of this section the term `payment' means either of the following:

`(A) Direct payment to a pharmacy.

`(B) Payment to a pharmacy through a contract with a PDP sponsor offering a prescription drug plan, an MA organization offering an MA-PD plan, or a fallback prescription drug plan.

`(2) PRESCRIBED ITEM- The term `prescribed item' means a drug or device approved by the Food and Drug Administration under section 505 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 355), or a biological product licensed under section 351 of the Public Health Services Act (42 U.S.C. 238 et seq.).

`(3) VALID PRESCRIPTION- The term `valid prescription' means a prescription issued by a licensed health care provider for a prescribed item (as defined in paragraph (2)).

`(c) Rule of Construction- Nothing in this section shall prohibit a pharmacy from refusing to dispense a prescribed item, in accordance with standard pharmacy practice, if there is a valid medical concern that such prescribed item will cause problems due to therapeutic duplications, drug-disease contraindications, drug interactions (including serious interactions with prescription or over-the-counter medications), incorrect dosage or duration of drug treatment, drug-allergy interactions, or drug abuse or misuse. Any refusal to dispense a prescribed item must be based on generally accepted practice among health care providers.'.

(b) Conforming Amendment- Section 1860D-4(b)(1)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-104(b)(1)(A)) is amended by adding `, such terms and conditions shall require that the pharmacy complies with the requirements of section 1898' before the period at the end.

SEC. 3. MEDICAID PHARMACY REQUIREMENTS.

Section 1902(a)(23) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396a(a)(23)) is amended--

(1) by striking `and (B)' and inserting `(B)'; and

(2) by inserting the following before the semicolon at the end: `, and (C) any pharmacy that provides services to any individual eligible for medical assistance shall comply with the requirements of section 1898'.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

The amendments made by this act shall apply to prescriptions issued or filled on or after January 1, 2006.
END

[One_Life_To_Give]

1. Does this prevent a pregnant pharmacist from working alone?

Since pregnant women are not suppposed to be handling/filling scripts for some medications. Would this in effect prohibit a pregnant woman from being able to work alone behind the bench?

[Warpy]

2. Most of this stuff is in every state's Pharmacist Practice Act

which is why I keep haranguing about writing up a formal letter of complaint to your state pharmacy licensing board if you ever run up against one of these sanctimonious twits. Threaten his or her license.
They are not qualified to pass judgment or practice medicine, which is precisely what they're doing when they refuse to fill any prescription.

They have no way of knowing whether those pills are for endometriosis, cystic acne, dysmenorrhea, or birth control. They are simply not qualified to make that determination. They need to be turned in to the licensing board. Enough complaints will pull them in for a hearing, probation, and finally the license to practice will be pulled.

A letter to one's health insurance provider would also be a good idea. Let that provider know that a pharmacy is too fastidious to fill the prescriptions written by that health plan's doctors. They'll pull their business pretty quickly.

You who are taking birth control pills are the people who can defeat these unconscionable prigs. Do it.