New York State Revises Counseling Requirements for Pharmacists

The New York State Board of Regents on June 17 adopted new rulings requiring pharmacists to offer counseling for newly filled or altered prescriptions but not for older prescriptions, the New York Times reports. For the past four years, the board required pharmacists to counsel anyone filling a prescription about the name, dosage, function, interactions and storage of the appropriate drug. Under the new rules, pharmacists must counsel only patients filling new or altered prescriptions. Selig Corman, director of the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York, which lobbied for the change, said a majority of patients getting refills already know about side effects and other potential problems. However, Blair Horner, legislative director of the New York Public Interest Research Group, said, "Why not keep [the requirements for] both?" The consumer advocacy group, along with the Center for Medical Consumers, recently found that at least 5,000 New York state residents die because of errors in giving medication. The new rules take effect July 10 (Perez-Pena, New York Times, 6/18).