The California Board of Pharmacy Plays Key Role in Consumer Access and Medication Safety
Published: February 2007
As medications have become an a growing part of people’s daily health treatment, maintenance and promotion, pharmacists play an essential role in assuring people’s access to and safety with their medications. In turn, those organizations and entities that support, train, license, regulate and oversee pharmacists and state and federal legislation affecting them also play a foundational role in medication access and safety. The California Board of Pharmacy is one such entity. As a way of educating advocates, beneficiaries, and others about these foundational entities, and where to go for certain questions, complaints, assistance, this article provides an overview of the Board in a simple question and answer format with questions that were submitted to and answered by Board of Pharmacy staff. This Q&A clarifies the Board’s work and jurisdiction, and how it assists and can assist the work of advocates. Future newsletter editions will also explore the role and jurisdiction of other pharmacy foundational entities such as the California Pharmacists Association.
1) What is the California Board of Pharmacy, its mission and area of authority/regulation?
The Board was created over 100 years ago to protect and promote the health and safety of Californians by ensuring the highest quality of pharmacist’s care and the appropriate use of pharmaceuticals through education, communication, licensing, legislation, regulation and enforcement. Through venues such as public meetings, community health fairs, and its website (particularly its page on consumer services) the Board communicates with and educates the public on medication safety, complaint processes, patients’ bill of rights, consumer tips on lowering medication costs (including information on Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs Program), advice on buying foreign drugs, and the basics on Medicare Part D, to name a few areas.
Other entities, such as the California Pharmacists Association (CPhA) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), represent the interests of pharmacies and provide focused education to pharmacists in specific areas such as on the details of Medicare Part D. The Board focuses more on licensing pharmacists, technicians, and other professionals who dispense and/or sell pharmaceutical products obtained through prescriptions, and overseeing and enforcing laws pertaining to pharmacists and consumer safety. For example, with a staff of just over 50, the Board has inspectors statewide to check on pharmacists’ compliance with state and federal laws, such as making sure consumers receive a pharmacist consultation when bringing in a prescription from the doctor. (See last edition’s article on medication errors for more information on additional recommended actions for consumer medication safety.) The Board can also impose citations or fines on pharmacists, and even revoke licenses in instances of noncompliance, negligence and/or abuse.
As far as legislative authority, the Board does have a legislative committee that drafts, sponsors and advocates for legislation benefiting consumer protection and safety. For example, the Board recently sponsored a piece of legislation that by 2009 will establish a program to track drugs from the time they’re manufactured to the time they are dispensed. Currently at least 10 percent of the drugs sold internationally are not the drugs the manufacturers say they are. This electronic tracking system will reduce the instances of people taking intentionally mislabeled medications.
Learn more about how the California Board of Pharmacy plays a key role in consumer access and medication safety.
