California Amends its Pharmacy Law

Governor Brown approved Senate Bill 493 on September 12, 2013. The bill amends the state’s Pharmacy Law. It, among other things, establishes board recognition for an “Advanced Practice Pharmacist”, and specifies the criteria necessary for the recognition.

Section 4016.5 is added to the California Business and Professions Code. It defines “Advanced practice pharmacist” as a licensed pharmacist who has been recognized as an advanced practice pharmacist by the board, pursuant to Section 4210 of the Business and Professions Code. A board-recognized advanced practice pharmacist is entitled to practice advanced practice pharmacy within or outside of a licensed pharmacy.

Section 4052.6 is added and specifies the functions that may be performed by an advanced practice pharmacist, such as:

Perform patient assessments;
Order and interpret drug therapy-related tests;
Refer patients to other health care providers;
Participate in the evaluation and management of diseases and health conditions in collaboration with other health care providers; and
Initiate, adjust or discontinue drug therapy in the manner specified in Section 4054.2 of the Business and Professions Code.

Section 4210 is added to the California Business and Professions Code. This section lists the following requirements necessary for persons who seek recognition as an advanced practice pharmacists:

An active license in good standing to practice pharmacy issued by the California State Board of Pharmacy.

Persons must satisfy any two of the following criteria:
Earn certification in a relevant area of practice from an organization recognized by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education or another entity recognized by the board. Examples include ambulatory care, critical care, geriatric pharmacy, nuclear pharmacy, nutrition support pharmacy, oncology pharmacy, pediatric pharmacy, pharmacotherapy, or psychiatric pharmacy.
Complete a postgraduate residency through an accredited postgraduate institution where at least 50 percent of the experience includes the provision of direct patient care services with interdisciplinary teams.
Have provided clinical services to patients for at least one year under a collaborative practice agreement or protocol with a physician, advanced practice pharmacist, pharmacist practicing collaborative drug therapy management, or health system.
File an application with the board for recognition as an advanced practice pharmacist.
Pay the applicable fee to the board.

To have an active license in good standing to practice pharmacy, the applicant must submit to a criminal history information check from both the Department of Justice and the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, and submit fingerprints, prior to taking the licensure examination or at the time of license renewal.

The legislation states the recognition shall be valid for two years, exactly the same as the certificate holder’s license to practice pharmacy. Advanced practice pharmacists must complete 10 hours of continuing education each renewal cycle in areas of practice relevant to the pharmacist’s clinical practice. The bill authorizes the State Board of Pharmacy to adopt regulations establishing the means of documenting completion of the requirements, and to set fees for the issuance and renewal of the recognition.

Senate Bill 493 also states that pharmacists are health care providers who have the authority to provide health care services. It authorizes an expansion of functions permitted by all pharmacists.

A copy of the legislation is available here: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/sen/sb_0451-0500/sb_493_bill_20130919_enrolled.pdf

Background Check Backlog Resulted in Offender Coaching Youth Football

A recent news item from San Antonio, Texas highlights the fact that having a background check policy in place offers little protection if that policy is not actually implemented in a timely manner. Danny Amezquita had been volunteering as a coach for his son’s youth football team for a while before other parents started to raise questions about his criminal background. At their insistence, Texas Youth Football Association officials pushed Amezquita’s background check to the top of their backlog and finally processed it. The background check revealed that Amezquita had pled guilty to a charge of indecency with a child by sexual contact. Amezquita said that after initially fighting the charge, he decided to take a plea deal in order to spare his family the trauma of a trial. As part of the plea deal, Amezquita does not have to register as an offender, but he does have to report to a probation officer belonging to the unit that handles the county’s offender cases. Assuming Amezquita does not violate any of the terms of his probation, it will end in July of 2014. While some might try to console themselves with the fact that Amezquita may not even have committed the crime he pled guilty to, this is no excuse for the league’s delay in running the required background checks. Until a background check is completed, there is no way to know whether or not a given individual has a criminal past that could potentially make them dangerous. Allowing anyone to volunteer with kids without a background check is a risk. Had the league used an instant background check product like US OneSEARCH from backgroundchecks.com to run their volunteer background checks, there would have been no backlog and hence no risk of kids unknowingly associating with individuals with criminal records. A check through US OneSEARCH is easy to order and requires just a few clicks to initiate. It compares a name and date of birth against a collection of over 450 million public criminal records taken from state and local databases across the country, and returns a result almost instantly. Of course, league officials would still have had to review the background check reports, but they still would have shaved a lot of time off of the process by using US OneSEARCH. After learning of Amezquita’s criminal background, the Texas Youth Football Association immediately banned Amezquita from volunteering with his son’s football team, the Panthers, or with any other team in the league. At least one volunteer associated with the Panthers at first seemed reluctant to accept the ban. Manuel Ortiz, the Panthers’ president, initially said Amezquita could still be an adviser to the team. However, other volunteers quickly overrode this comment and assured parents that Amezquita would not be associated with the team in any capacity. Source: http://www.kvue.com/news/state/222820091.html

Are Cab Drivers Background Checked Thoroughly Enough?

Unlicensed cabs are popular in many big cities, where lower fares attract passengers to these private modes of transport. Unlicensed cabs are able to offer lower fares in part because they are unregulated and do not have to abide by official fare rates, so they can pass this savings on to passengers. However, the very circumstance that attracts passengers to these cabs may be putting their safety in jeopardy.

Category: Blog