Washington State Prescription Labeling Bill Passes House

 

 February 9, 2022, Engrossed Substitute House Bill 185 sponsored by Representatives Thai, Cody, Gregerson, Macri, Santos, Slatter, Valdez, Pollet, and Riccelliwas passed by the Washington House. 

This bill will require the Pharmacy Quality Assurance Commission to create rules for pharmacies to provide dual language prescription labels for at least the 15 most commonly spoken languages in Washington and rules for providing audible, large print and Braille prescription labels for those who are visually impaired.

Even before the bill was proposed the Pharmacy Quality Assurance Commission was already discussing similar rulemaking for pharmacies. The bill will provide some perimeters and deadlines to guide them through the process.

At the January 17th House Health Care and Wellness hearing the committee chair, Rep. Cody said: "When these students brought this issue to me and discussed it, I was embarrassed to realize our current law had not taken this into effect.  We already paid for and made sure providers have language translators, but it never occurred to me that when they go down to the pharmacy they don't get their drugs in a language they understand. And I think it is a miracle we haven't had more people die from getting their prescriptions that they are not able to read."

Other legislators and physicians testified about their own personal experience when only a child with limited understanding of English and medical information being asked to translate for parents or family members.

The bill passed the House  64-32 (with 2 excused) out of the House.  It will now proceed to the Senate which had it's own version of the bill SB5840 sponsored by Senator Keiser.

Follow Bill and Read Full Text 

Wisconsin Health Literacy Medication Label Initiative

 

Wisconsin Health Literacy is working with doctors to adopt evidence-based Universal Medication Schedules when prescribing medications.  The Universal Medication Schedule tells patients how many pills to take at a specified time of day (Morning, Noon, Evening, Bedtime). 

  

This is the fourth phase of their Medication Label Initiative.  Previous phases created and implemented new medication label standards in partnership with five pharmacy organizations in Wisconsin utilizing USP guidelines to make medication labels easier to read.

Read More and See Participating Pharmacies

Ohio House Bill 448 - Prescription Reader Coverage Bill

Fortitude and persistence are two words that describe the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio and their work toward making Ohio a safe and accessible place for those with vision loss. Their belief that blindness doesn’t stop you from living the life you want with a focus on removing barriers drives their pursuit of legislation for the provision and insurance coverage of audible prescription readers in all Ohio pharmacies. Ohio House Bill 448 would do just that if it passes into law.

This bill would help blind and visually impaired patients manage their medications more safely.  “Fortunately, I have sighted help when I need to know what a medication is” shares Colleen Roth, a member of the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio.   “I had a friend who was blind and did not have sighted help to read prescription bottles. He simply put them in different places and guessed what they were. He has since passed away so I am sharing this in case others have done the same thing.”

Another member, Todd Elzey recently posted on Facebook, “I have more than one medication for which the instructions say: store at room temperature away from light and moisture, do not store in the bathroom. How many people store medications in the bathroom medicine cabinet? I never gave it a second thought until I first accessed one of the labels on a prescription bottle [using a prescription reader.]”

Supporters are hoping the bill will finally be passed this legislative session.  In 2019 Representative Richard Brown and a dozen co-sponsors introduced bill HB214. That previous bill was assigned to the Health Committee and had two hearings and garnered the support of vision advocates, NFB of Ohio, Cleveland Sight Center, Cincinnati Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the Southeastern Ohio Center for Independent Living and of pharmacists in the Ohio Pharmacists Association. However, the bill was tabled due to more pressing issues during the pandemic and expired at the end of 2020.

The recently reintroduced bill HB448 has slightly different language from the prior bill including a new provision that insurance companies cover the cost of the prescription reader device if one is needed helping defray the costs for pharmacies and patients. The bill has been assigned to the Ohio House Insurance Committee.  No hearing dates have been set yet.  

#HB448  #AccessSavesLives  #National Federation of the Blind of Ohio

Hy-Vee Announces They are Now Offering Talking and Large Print Prescription Labels in 26 Languages

Hy-Vee, Inc. announced December 17, 2021 that talking prescription labels are now available in 26 languages to visually- and print-impaired patients at Hy-Vee’s more than 275 Hy-Vee Pharmacy locations.

In addition to English, the talking prescription labels can be translated to 25 other languages upon request. Patients who request this option will receive large-print dual-language prescription labels that feature a high contrast font in English, as well as a translation from one of the 25 other languages. These labels can also be read aloud in the selected language via the free ScripTalk reader or free ScripTalk mobile app.

“We are on a mission to make health care services more accessible for our patients,” said Kristin Williams, executive vice president and chief health officer for Hy-Vee. “Through our partnership with En-Vision America, we now offer a solution to help improve the health outcomes for our visually- and print-impaired patients, along with our non-English speaking patients who often face language barriers to health care.”

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Spoken Rx "Talking" Prescription Labels Now Available in All CVS Pharmacy Locations

 

CVS Pharmacy is now offering Spoken Rx, its proprietary audio prescription label solution, in all its nearly 10,000 pharmacy locations nationwide, including more than 1,700 CVS Pharmacy locations within Target. Developed in collaboration with the American Council of the Blind, Spoken Rx is a technology that allows patients to have their prescription information read aloud, designed for those with visual impairments and those who cannot read standard print labels. It is available at no extra cost to patients.

"We continue to remove barriers to health care for all patients, and this in-app technology furthers our commitment by providing patients added flexibility and independence," said Jared Tancrelle, Senior Vice President, Store Operations at CVS Health. "Our patients are increasingly digitally connected, so digital tools like Spoken Rx are a priority for us as we listen to feedback and adapt our suite of pharmacy services and programs to ensure we're best meeting the needs of all consumers."

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New York Times Highlights Specialty Pharmacy Services for the Blind

 

Specialty Pharmacies Cater to the Blind and Those With Impaired Vision

The pandemic has exposed flaws in services for people who can’t easily access a drive-through window for Covid shots or testing or can’t read prescription labels.

Read the Full New York Times article by Joshua Brockman