LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A new regulation under consideration by the Nevada pharmacy board could lead to store closures and even harm patients, according to the association that represents retailers in the state.
Under the rule, a pharmacist could only fill 250 individual prescriptions in a given day. If a pharmacy believes it might fill more than that, it can bring a second pharmacist on board to fill another 250.
The rule was sparked by a survey of pharmacists about working conditions in which they said they were overworked. In Nevada, pharmacists are charged with checking every single prescription they fill, even drugs that patients have been taking for years.
WATCH | Retailers say new pharmacy regulation could hurt patients
And pharmacists are also limited in how many technicians they can oversee.
Bryan Wachter, president of the Nevada Retail Association, says the rule goes beyond the scope of the pharmacy board's purpose.
"This is the board of pharmacy attempting to tell us how to operate the business of pharmacy, not protecting patients, which is their mandate, but how to operate the business of pharmacy," Wachter said. "We should allow the market, allow pharmacists, to develop these relationships and we should allow the regulatory guidelines to let that happen."
But beyond that, Wachter says the rule could actually hurt patients.
"That's exactly what could happen under these guidelines, because after that one pharmacist at that retailer hits 250, you're done," he said. "So if you need late-night antibiotics because your kid came home with pink eye, that's not a today problem, that's a tomorrow problem, and you know that's going to have an effect on school attendance."
And it's not just school kids. Senior citizens could be affected by the rule as well, says Donna West, a retired DMV administrator.
"It just seems odd to me, as a senior and somebody who works with seniors, I'm really worried," West said. "I have 10 prescriptions, so if I fill them all at one time — I get all my renewals at once — so if I go in with my 10 prescriptions, that only leaves space for 24 more seniors like me. And then what are they going to do?"
Wachter says staffing pharmacies with more than one pharmacist to meet the quota could lead to stores closing, including grocery stores in underserved areas that are kept afloat by their pharmacy business.
"What it will mean if we have to close a pharmacy in order to combine two pharmacists and one store is that all those front-end workers are now fired, and that's anywhere between 25 and 100 employees who operate that front end, make the whole store work and be able to operate that," he said. "So we've alleviated some workforce for the pharmacist but we've actually let go 25 to 100 people in that front-end store, and so the consequences of this are more drastic than I think the solution to their problem would suggest."
A representative from the state pharmacy board could not be reached for comment this week. But Gov. Joe Lombardo's office released a statement in response to Channel 13's questions that reads: "The Governor has not taken a position on this matter. However, he does believe that there are still issues that remain to be considered and addressed before it goes before the board for a formal vote."
Wachter acknowledged that pharmacists have a heavy workload, and that there is a shortage of trained pharmacists in the state. He said there are some things that could be done to ease the crunch, including allowing more pharmacy techs per pharmacist, allowing those techs to check each other's work, and allowing techs to sign off on established medications so pharmacists don't have to check each one individually.
But he said the quota regulation went too far.
"Why the board of pharmacy chose what we consider kind of the nuclear option, I don't know," he said.
The rule will have to be approved by the pharmacy board before it can go into effect, and after that will need the imprimatur of the Legislative Commission, a group of state lawmakers that meets when the Legislature is out of session.
Do you have a question about Nevada politics? Ask Steve at Steve.Sebelius@ktnv.com, or by clicking on the banner below.
