Due to the hardwork of Delegate Michele Guyton, Senator Anthony Muse and the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland an accessible prescription labeling bill has passed and is on it's way to the Governor. In committee hearings, members of the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland provided descriptive and moving testimony detailing the struggles and dangers of managing medications with vision loss.
This bill directs the state Board of Pharmacy to adopt regulations necessary to ensure that individuals who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print impaired have appropriate access to prescription labels, bag tags, and medical guides (patient education information). The law goes into effect in October 2023, and the Board of Pharmacy must complete the regulations by January 1, 2025.
The regulations must include:
- accommodations are at no additional cost to the individual
- in a format fully accessible to the patient
- provided in a time frame comparable to which the information is provided to other patients who are not visually impaired
- the best practices for accessible labels previously published by the Government Accountability office in 2016
- a method for notifying customers that accessible prescription labels are available
For full information on this bill visit: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/HB0456?ys=2023RS