National Federation of the Blind of Maryland Commends General Assembly for Requiring Accessible Prescription Labels
New Law Will Enhance Safety and Independence of Blind Marylanders
BALTIMORE, Maryland (May 8, 2023): The National Federation of the Blind of Maryland (NFBMD) applauds the Maryland General Assembly for passing a law that requires pharmacies to provide appropriate access to prescription labels for individuals who are blind or otherwise print disabled. This service will be provided free of charge for patients who need it. The legislation was signed into law yesterday by Governor Wes Moore.
The Maryland Board of Pharmacy is now tasked with creating regulations to enforce the implementation of accessible prescription labels at pharmacies throughout the state, according to the legislation.
This is an initiative that the National Federation of the Blind has supported for some time. The transformative membership organization of blind Americans authored a Model Bill to support the need for accessible prescription label legislation across the states. The National Federation of the Blind of Maryland used this model bill as a stepping stone to work with state legislators to introduce the legislation.
“In a nutshell, as of January 1, 2025, any of us in Maryland should be able to walk into our local pharmacy or call in a prescription, tell them we want accessible labels in Braille or large print or audio, and get those prescriptions with the label type of our choice, at no extra cost to us, in the same timeframe as any other patient,” explained Ronza Othman, president of the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland. “I want to particularly thank delegate Michele Guyton and Senator C. Anthony Muse for sponsoring this legislation and seeing it through to passage, and we commend the General Assembly for understanding how critically important this is to blind Marylanders.”
For a copy of the legislation, click here.