NABP to publicize pharmacist censure
License revocations, suspensions, and probations invoked by state pharmacy boards will be duly noted on the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) Web site as part of NABP's overall effort to list all of the nation's licensed pharmacists.
Standard information, culled from state rosters, will simply include the name, city, and state of residence of every pharmacist, along with any pertinent certification or accreditation given by a state board.
According to NABP officials, the rationale to include major disciplinary actions was primarily to make that information easily accessible to every state board, as well as potential employers, government agencies, payers, and the public.
In a memo from NABP licensure transfer program director Carol Russek to state pharmacy boards on the issue, she notes, "I have seen numerous cases of pharmacists attempting to transfer their license without reporting existing licensure disciplinary actions that have been taken against them in other states. These applicants apparently experience little or no hesitation in falsifying their applications."
The NABP is requesting that state boards expedite the reporting of disciplinary actions in their states to the national organization to "help your board avoid licensing an incompetent pharmacist and exposing your citizens to potential harm."
The organization's World Wide Web address is www.nabp.net.
Pharmacy groups merge on state lawmakers
Ten national pharmacy organizations have combined to become the Alliance for Pharma ceutical Care, a lobbying consortium that plans to test its muscle at the National Conference of State Legislatures this year in Las Vegas.
Billing its presence as a series of informational exhibits targeting collaborative practice agreements, disease management, and drug therapy issues, the pharmacists also are planning to strong-arm state lawmakers by offering them cholesterol, diabetes, respiratory, and cardiovascular screenings.
While gambling on its ability to show the overall positive impacts pharmacists have on the health care industry, spokespersons for the new alliance add that medication errors will be an ongoing focus of the new organization.
Alliance member organizations include, in alphabetical order, the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy, American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, American College of Clinical Pharmacy, American Pharmaceutical Association, American Society of Consultant Pharmacists, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, National Community Pharmacist Association, National Council of State Pharmacy Association Executives, National Wholesale Druggists' Association, and U.S. Pharmacopeia.
[For more information, call Tina Pugliese, APhA, at (800) 237-2742, ext. 7558.]
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