Arkansas Administrative Code
Agency 070 - Board of Pharmacy
Rule 070.00.09-004 - Regulation 10 - Arkansas Pharmacy Support Group
Universal Citation: AR Admin Rules 070.00.09-004
Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 2, February 2024
REGULATION 10 -ARKANSAS PHARMACY SUPPORT GROUP
10-00-0001
-SUPPORT GROUP
(a) Definitions.
As used in this regulation:
(1) "Board" means
the Arkansas State Board of Pharmacy;
(2) "Board-approved interveners" means
persons trained in intervention and designated by the Board to implement the
intervention process when necessary;
(3) "Committee" means a committee appointed
by the Board to formulate and administer the impaired pharmacists program, to
be known as the Arkansas Pharmacy Support Group ("ARPSG");
(4) "Impaired pharmacist" or "impaired
pharmacy technician" means a pharmacist or pharmacy technician who is unable to
practice pharmacy with reasonable skill, competency, or safety to the public
because of substance abuse;
(5)
"Impaired pharmacist program" means a plan approved by the Board for
intervention, treatment, and rehabilitation of an impaired pharmacist or
pharmacy technician. The program for each impaired pharmacist/pharmacy
technician will be embodied by a contract with the ARPSG and the impaired
pharmacist/ pharmacy technician will be required to comply with the contractual
terms;
(6) "Intervention" means a
process whereby an alleged impaired pharmacist/pharmacy technician is
confronted by the Board or Board-approved interveners who provide documentation
that a problem exists and attempt to convince the pharmacist to seek evaluation
and treatment;
(7) "Rehabilitation"
means the process whereby an impaired pharmacist/pharmacy technician advances
in an impaired pharmacist program with progressive advocacy from the ARPSG to
an optimal level of competence to practice pharmacy without endangering the
public; and
(8) "Verification"
means a process whereby alleged professional impairment is identified or
established.
(b)
Administration.
(1) The impaired pharmacist
program authorized by Ark. Code Ann. §
17-92-701,
et seq shall be administered by the ARPSG in accordance with guidelines set by
the Board. The ARPSG shall serve as a diversion program to which the Board may
refer licensees where appropriate in lieu of or in addition to other
disciplinary action and also be a source of treatment, referral and monitoring
for pharmacists who desire to avail themselves of its services on a strictly
voluntary basis.
(2) The Board
shall appoint an Executive Committee of five (5) persons who are recovering
pharmacists and members of the ARPSG. The Committee members shall serve three
year terms. The Committee is authorized to appoint subcommittees to assist in
operations as needed, but all subcommittee actions are subject to review and
approval of the Executive Committee.
(3) The Board shall also appoint an Executive
Secretary who shall be a non-voting member of the Executive Committee and who
shall serve at the pleasure of the Board. The Executive Secretary shall be
responsible for administrative duties of the ARPSG and for supervision of ARPSG
contracts and monitoring functions. The Executive Secretary shall be
compensated as may be determined by the Board.
(4) ARPSG Executive Committee
Responsibilities
Subject to guidance and direction by the Board, the ARPSG Executive Committee shall be responsible for:
(a) Formulating and administering a program
to monitor compliance by impaired pharmacists/pharmacy technicians with the
recovery guidelines established by the ARPSG contract with the impaired
pharmacist /pharmacy technician and approved by the Board;
(b) Appointing a member of the ARPSG as a
monitor for impaired pharmacists/pharmacy technicians who are under contract
with the ARPSG to supervise compliance with the recovery guidelines established
in the contract and approved by the Board;
(c) Recommending to the Board that an
impaired pharmacist/pharmacy technician has progressed in recovery and can
return to the practice of pharmacy on terms determined by the Board without
posing a threat to himself or herself or to the public;
(d) Approving addiction professionals,
addiction centers and medical providers to perform evaluations of
pharmacists/pharmacy technicians who are ordered to participate in the ARPSG or
who voluntarily request participation in the program;
(e) Develop and administer requirements for
personal drug testing of participants in the ARPSG;
(f) Reviewing and monitoring information
relating to the compliance of pharmacists/pharmacy technicians in the
ARPSG;
(g) Assisting the
pharmacists' professional association in publicizing the program; and
(h) Preparing of reports for the
Board as requested.
(c) Board referral
(1) The Board shall inform each
pharmacist/pharmacy technician referred to the program by Board action of the
procedures followed in the program, of the rights and responsibilities of the
pharmacist/pharmacy technician in the program and of the possible consequences
of noncompliance with the program.
(2) The Executive Director of the Board shall
be immediately informed when a pharmacist/pharmacy technician has failed to
comply with any contractual term of the treatment program or if the ARPSG
Executive Committee determines that the pharmacist/pharmacy technician poses a
threat to the health and safety of the public.
(3) Participation in a program under this
regulation shall not be a defense to any disciplinary action, which may be
taken by the Board. Further, no provision of this section shall preclude the
Board from commencing disciplinary action against a licensee who is terminated
from a program pursuant to this section.
(4) The Board shall be informed when, in the
opinion of the ARPSG Executive Committee, a pharmacist/pharmacy technician who
enters the program is eligible to resume professional practice without posing a
threat to himself or herself or the public.
(d) Review activities
The Board shall review the activities of the Committee. As part of this evaluation, the Board may review files of all participants in the ARPSG program. The Board shall also resolve complaints received regarding the impaired pharmacists program.
(e) Civil liability
(1) All persons acting on behalf of the Board
in the impaired pharmacists program under this section shall be considered to
be acting on behalf of the Board and considered officers or employees of the
state.
(2) All patient records
shall be confidential and shall not be subject to public inspection except
pursuant to an order of a court of competent jurisdiction. However, the records
may be introduced as evidence in any relevant proceedings before the Board and
shall be produced upon Board request.
(f) Funding
The Board is authorized to provide up to $50,000 per year to the ARPSG Executive Committee for expenses incurred in management and operation of the program. The Committee shall prepare a budget for a July 1 to June 31 fiscal year outlining planned expenses of the ARPSG and submit the budget for review and approval prior to the Board's June meeting.
(6/20/91, Revised 7/10/2009)
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