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| Helping pharmacy & health communities improve access to Emergency Contraception (EC) |
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EC PHARMACY UPDATEPlanned Parenthood of Delaware and the Delaware Pharmacists Society are working together to try to improve EC access through pharmacies. Thus far, efforts have focused on educating pharmacists about Plan B. Planned Parenthood recently conducted an updated version of the EC Pharmacy Survey Project (DOC-20K) to determine which pharmacies regularly stock and dispense EC. Results of local findings can be easily viewed at maps.yourgmap.com/v/z_bs_EC_Pharmacy_Survey.html. The next step will be to develop and implement a legislative strategy for direct pharmacy access to EC. Several years ago, a group, including Planned Parenthood and pharmacists, met to explore the possibility of bringing EC pharmacy access to Delaware. Momentum on this front faded, but Planned Parenthood undertook outreach and educational efforts to increase awareness about EC. These efforts included paid advertising on billboards and radio. Reception to the group’s EC awareness activities on the University of Delaware has been very positive and EC is available at the Campus Health Center. As a result of Planned Parenthood’s previous survey querying pharmacists about stocking EC they provided EC training to teachers and social workers to increase community-level awareness. Training has not yet expanded to include pharmacists or other health care practitioners. The State of Delaware makes EC available in family planning clinics.
CONTACTSPat Carroll-Grant, R.Ph., CDE Karla Fox
USEFUL LINKSDelaware Board of Pharmacy Delaware General Assembly Planned Parenthood of Delaware
PROTOCOL ENVIRONMENTPossible Environment: Revision to Existing Authority Required This state permits collaborative practice agreements or a similar agreement between physicians and pharmacists. However, some modification of existing statutes and/or regulations is required to allow pharmacists to initiate EC for the general community. Pharmacist initiation of EC would require:
PHARMACY PRACTICE ACTPharmacy Practice Act Regulatory and Statutory Authority Note: The text presented below has been prepared by the American Pharmacists Association for the Pharmacy Access Partnership and reflects legislation or regulation promulgated as of June 15, 2003. DELAWARE Delaware law does not provide authority for broad collaborative drug therapy management. It does, however, permit pharmacists in any practice setting to “administer drugs to a patient or the patient’s agent,” apparently without a written protocol but presumably pursuant to a physician’s order for a specific patient. The law does not define “administer,” but the legislature did not equate it with “dispense” as that term is used separately, not interchangeably, throughout the statute. A pharmacist may also administer “injectable medications, biologicals, adult immunizations” (approved by the FDA or under clinical study) pursuant to a patient-specific prescription or a written protocol, which may cover only the prescribing physician’s “patient population” and those classes of persons and indications approved by a Pharmacy Regulatory Council of the state’s medical board. To administer injectable medications, the pharmacist must have completed comprehensive, Board-approved appropriate training, be certified in CPR, and take at least 2 hours of continuing education annually. The pharmacist must advise the patient in layman’s terms of the contraindications and potential risks, obtain the patient’s written consent, document each injection in detail, and maintain these records for three years. The Board is authorized to view all patient consent forms and documentation of all injections. Statutory Authority: Provided in the statutory definition of “practice of pharmacy,” 24 Del. Code Ann. § 250(2)(l) Regulatory Authority: Provided in the Board of Pharmacy regulations governing Administration of Injectable Medications, Del. Admin. Code. Title 24, § 2514
DELAWARE STATUTES Delaware Code TITLE 24 Professions and Occupations CHAPTER 25. PHARMACY Subchapter I. General Provisions; Board of Pharmacy § 2502. Definitions as used in this chapter. (l) “Practice of pharmacy” means the interpretation and evaluation of an authorized prescriber's order. This process shall include, but not be limited to, the proper compounding, dispensing, labeling, packaging and administering of a drug to the patient or the patient's agent. The practice shall include the application of the pharmacist's knowledge of pharmaceutics, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, drug and food interactions, drug product selection and patient counseling. It shall also include:
DELAWARE REGULATIONS 14.0 Administration of Injectable Medications The purpose of this regulation is to implement provisions relating to the training, administration, and documentation of injectable medications, biologicals, and adult immunizations by pharmacists, pursuant to Chapter 25, Title 24 of the Delaware Code relating to Pharmacy. 14.1 Educational Requirements
14.2 Practice Requirements
14.3 Classes and Indications of Approved Medications. Classes of medications shall include injectable medications, immunizations, and biologicals contained in the list of Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations or drugs under clinical study when administered in accordance with indications approved by the Food & Drug Administration. 14.4 Authorization. Only those registered pharmacists meeting the requirements of this Regulation shall administer injectable medications, biologicals, and adult immunizations. The Board of Pharmacy shall maintain a current list of those pharmacists so authorized. It is the responsibility of each registered pharmacist to maintain his or her current status on such list.
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