Bill Text: NJ S1112 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires written prescriptions to be legibly printed or typed.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-02-04 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee [S1112 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-S1112-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator JEFF VAN DREW
District 1 (Cape May, Atlantic and Cumberland)
SYNOPSIS
Requires written prescriptions to be legibly printed or typed.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the issuance of written prescriptions and supplementing Title 45 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in sections 1 through 4 of this act:
"Director" means the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety.
"Health care practitioner" means a person authorized by the appropriate State professional and occupational licensing board to prescribe prescription drugs in the course of the person's professional practice.
"Prescription drug" means a drug, device, or diagnostic agent for which a prescription by a health care practitioner is required by law.
"Written prescription" means a prescription that a health care practitioner writes on a New Jersey Prescription Blank as described in section 20 of P.L.2003, c.280 (C.45:14-59) or transmits to a pharmacist by electronic means in accordance with the provisions of section 19 of P.L.2003, c.280 (C.45:14-58), but does not include a written order for the administration of a prescription drug to a patient in a licensed health care facility.
2. a. The Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety shall prescribe, by regulation, requirements to be adopted by health care practitioners with regard to issuing a written prescription.
For the purpose of this subsection, the director shall require that each written prescription:
(1) be legibly printed or typed so as to be capable of being understood by the pharmacist filling the prescription;
(2) contain the name and strength of the drug prescribed, the quantity prescribed in both textual and numerical formats, and directions for its use;
(3) be dated with the month written out in textual letters; and
(4) be signed by the health care practitioner on the day that the written prescription is issued.
b. The director shall take such actions as are necessary to publicize the requirements provided for in subsection a. of this section among health care practitioners.
3. A health care practitioner may be subject to such disciplinary action as the director determines appropriate to take for a failure to comply with the requirements set forth in section 2 of this act, except that:
a. no such action shall be taken during the one-year period immediately following the effective date of this act; and
b. a health care practitioner shall, for a first violation, be subject only to a written notice from the director advising the practitioner of the latter's failure to comply with the requirements of section 2 of this act and explaining those requirements.
4. The director, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall adopt rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this act, for which purpose the director shall consult, at a minimum, with: the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services; the State professional and occupational licensing boards that regulate the practice of health care practitioners, the Board of Pharmacy; the Medical Society of New Jersey; the New Jersey Association of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons; the American Academy of Pediatrics-New Jersey Chapter; the New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians; the New Jersey Dental Association; the New Jersey State Nurses Association; the New Jersey State Society of Physician Assistants; and the New Jersey Veterinary Medical Association.
5. The provisions of section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall not be construed to:
a. permit a pharmacist to refuse to fill a prescription that fails to comply with the requirements of that section if the prescription is issued on a New Jersey Prescription Blank and meets the requirements of section 18 of P.L.2003, c.280 (C.45:14-57); or
b. relieve a pharmacist of the obligation to communicate with a practitioner who has issued a prescription, or take any other action that the pharmacist would have taken prior to the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), to resolve any uncertainty on the pharmacist's part with respect to a prescription that the pharmacist is requested to fill.
6. This act shall take effect on the 180th day after enactment, except that the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs may take such anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as shall be necessary for the implementation of the act.
STATEMENT
This bill directs the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs (DCA) in the Department of Law and Public Safety to require by regulation that health care practitioners with prescriptive authority legibly print or type any written prescription for medication or devices.
The requirements contained in this bill are modeled after the provisions of a Florida statute enacted in 2003 (section 456.42), and are designed to promote safer health care by reducing opportunities for errors in the dispensing of prescription drugs to consumers.
Specifically, the bill provides as follows:
· The Director of DCA is to require that each written prescription:
-- be legibly printed or typed so as to be capable of being understood by the pharmacist filling the prescription;
-- contain the name and strength of the drug prescribed, the quantity prescribed in both textual and numerical formats, and directions for its use;
-- be dated with the month written out in textual letters; and
-- be signed by the health care practitioner on the day that the written prescription is issued.
· The director is to take such actions as are necessary to publicize the requirements of the bill among health care practitioners.
· A health care practitioner may be subject to such disciplinary action as the director determines appropriate to take for a failure to comply with the requirements of the bill, except that: no such action is to be taken during the one-year period immediately following the effective date of the bill; and a health care practitioner, for a first violation, is subject only to a written notice from the director advising the practitioner of the latter's failure to comply with the requirements of the bill and explaining those requirements.
· The director is required to adopt rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of the bill, for which purpose the director is to consult, at a minimum, with: the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services; the relevant State professional and occupational licensing boards; the Medical Society of New Jersey; the New Jersey Association of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons; the American Academy of Pediatrics - New Jersey Chapter; the New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians; the New Jersey Dental Association; the New Jersey State Nurses Association; the New Jersey State Society of Physician Assistants; and the New Jersey Veterinary Medical Association.
· The provisions of the bill are not to be construed to:
-- permit a pharmacist to refuse to fill a prescription that fails to comply with the requirements of the bill if the prescription is issued on a New Jersey Prescription Blank and meets the requirements of N.J.S.A.45:14-57; or
-- relieve a pharmacist of the obligation to communicate with a practitioner who has issued a prescription, or take any other action that the pharmacist would have taken prior to the effective date of this bill, to resolve any uncertainty on the pharmacist's part with respect to a prescription that the pharmacist is requested to fill.
· The bill takes effect on the 180th day after enactment, but authorizes the Director of DCA to take such anticipatory administrative action in advance as necessary for its implementation.
