Training standards on all pharmacy technicians
February 25, 2008
On Tuesday, a House bill that would set mandatory education, training and regulatory standards for all pharmacy technicians, is scheduled to be introduced by Rep. Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio. He calls it Emily’s Act.
Named for Emily Jerry, a 2 year old girl who died after a technician prepared her chemotherapy drug with a saline solution 26 times above normal.
His bill would make federal grants available to states that require all technicians — in hospitals, retail stores and other settings — to pass the national training exam administered by the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board. It would also require reporting of prescription errors to state pharmacy boards and limit the number of technicians supervised by a single pharmacist.
He says the proposal has the backing of actor Dennis Quaid, whose newborn twins mistakenly were given 1,000 times the usual dosage of a blood thinner in November at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
LaTourette is optimistic his bill will become law. But it likely faces an uncertain congressional reception in a presidential election year. Pharmacy operators are expected to oppose it as unnecessary and too costly.
(via USA Today)
Webmasters Note:
Laws regulating mandatory certification for all Technicians seems like a great idea. It will lead to likely higher pay. It will also lead to more responsibility. The technician responsible for Emily’s tragic error faced no legal recourse. The supervising Pharmacist however, had his license revoked and will face charges of reckless homicide and involuntary manslaughter.
If such a law passes, when a tragic error occurs, is it possible that it could be us in front of a judge after a patient dies?
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I hope it gets passed into law… keep us posted.