HTML Preview Summer Newsletter Pharmacy page number 1.


The Mission of the Maryland
Board of Pharmacy is to protect
Maryland consumers and to
promote quality health care in
the field of pharmacy through
licensing pharmacists and
issuing permits to pharmacies,
and distributors, setting
standards for the practice of
pharmacy through regulations
and legislation, educating
consumers, and receiving and
resolving complaints from the
public regarding pharmacists,
pharmacies, and distributors.
4201 Patterson Avenue
Baltimore, Maryland 21215
Tel: 410.764.4755
Fax: 410.358.6207
Toll Free: 800.542.4964
TTY: BALTO.383.7555
Visit the Board on the web at www.mdbop.org or e-mail to [email protected].
C
hange comes very slowly at govern-
ment agencies, often trying one’s
patience to reach the outcome. At the
Board of Pharmacy, this summer, we have
experienced the results of change and
patience. After more than a year of meeting
and planning, the Board has relocated its
office to a more expansive and functional
operation on the first floor of the Patterson
Avenue office complex.
The relocation was necessary, in part, to
prepare for the registration of pharmacy
technicians, scheduled to begin in January
of 2007. Change and patience were para-
mount in the passage of legislation to
approve the registration of pharmacy tech-
nicians. More than three years were
required for the legislature to establish the
law. Numerous amendments and changes
over the thirty-six months of debate pro-
duced the final bill. Change and patience
— a worthwhile combination.
It is ironic that change and patience were
also in play in the passage of legislation to
allow pharmacists to provide immunization
vaccines for the flu. A change in philoso-
phy from the Board of Nursing, and the
patience required to review proposed regu-
lations with the Board of Physicians, gave
Maryland pharmacists a long awaited clini-
cal practice opportunity. The cooperation
of these three professional boards has also
been beneficial in reviewing Drug Therapy
Management protocols and requests for
changes to the dispensing formularies for
mid-wife and local health clinic nurses.
Change has never been more evident than
with the cooperation between the Board of
Pharmacy and the Office of Health Care
Quality (OHCQ). Through the efforts of the
Long Term Care (LTC) Task Force, new regu-
lations will be proposed to include require-
ments for a quarterly pharmacist review for
assisted living residents and annual medical
reviews by physicians or nurse practitioners.
In addition, at the request of OHCQ, the LTC
Task Force is recommending a number of
bulk medications for approval in Skilled
Nursing Facilities. These initiatives required
more than two years of collaboration. Change
and patience…winning again.
The Practice Committee, under Chair Mark
Levi, is busy preparing regulations for the
registration of pharmacy technicians. Those
regulations should be completed by August
and presented to the Board for adoption by
its monthly September meeting. The
Practice Committee continues to answer all
inquiries by letter, after committee review
and Board approval. In addition to
Chairman Levi, the Practice Committee
includes Jeanne Furman, Don Yee, David
Chason, and Rodney Taylor.
Mayer Handelman chairs the Disciplinary
Committee, which is charged with reviewing
consumer complaints. The Committee meets
at least monthly, and is responsible for all
disciplinary cases presented to the Board.
Chairman Handelman’s Committee members
include Rodney Taylor and Donald Taylor. A
Board consumer member will also be
assigned to the Committee once an appoint-
ment is made.
Continued on page 3
CHANGE! PATIENCE!
John Balch, Board President
SUMMER 2006
SUMMER 2006
In This Issue:
Prescription Drug
Respository–2
Fast Bytes–3
Disciplinary Cases–4
Introduction to MIS Unit–5
The Mission of the Maryland
Board of Pharmacy is to protect
Maryland consumers and to
promote quality health care in
the field of pharmacy through
licensing pharmacists and
issuing permits to pharmacies,
and distributors, setting
standards for the practice of
pharmacy through regulations
and legislation, educating
consumers, and receiving and
resolving complaints from the
public regarding pharmacists,
pharmacies, and distributors.
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