Legal News

An involuntary manslaughter charge against a hospital R.Ph. involved in a fatal Rx error was reduced to negligent treatment of a patient, a low grade misdemeanor. The criminal indictment on manslaughter charges had raised alarm in pharmacy circles.

The Bush administration proposed to ease the privacy regulations in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, making it easier for pharmacists to dispense Rxs.

A lawsuit was filed alleging that a Connecticut woman died after a CVS pharmacist dispensed opium tincture instead of camphorated opium tincture (paregoric).

More states now permit the transfer of electronic Rxs between physicians and pharmacies and two more states now permit collaborative practice agreements between physicians and pharmacists, according to NABP's annual survey of pharmacy law.

The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy tackled the issues of institutional pharmacy drug diversion and electronic prescriptions at its 2001 meeting

Fraud, pharmacy, and the law - regulations, cases, and recognizing health-care fraud in the practice setting