The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) announced its support of efforts by the White House to respond to America's growing prescription drug abuse crisis. America's pharmacists play a key role in the prevention of prescription drug abuse, through regular patient interaction, education and by providing clear information on how to take a medication correctly and appropriately, how and why to dispose of them properly and describing possible side effects or drug interactions.

Yesterday, White House officials from the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), along with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) released the Obama administration's plan "Epidemic: Responding to America's Prescription Drug Abuse Crisis." The plan provides a national framework for reducing prescription drug diversion and abuse by supporting the expansion of state-based prescription drug monitoring programs, recommending more convenient and environmentally responsible disposal methods to remove unused medications from the home, supporting education for patients and health care providers, and reducing the prevalence of pill mills and doctor shopping through enforcement efforts.

The FDA also announced the final Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) programregarding all extended-release and long-acting opioid medications. APhA appreciates that the final opiod REMS program is one step in the Administration's coordinated intergovernmental effort to address prescription drug abuse, proper pain management, education, storage and disposal.

APhA is actively advocating for strategies to improve REMS programs and systems, recently hosting a stakeholder meeting that included representative experts from various pharmacy, medicine, nursing, physician assistant, drug wholesaler, technology and safety organizations. The meeting was also observed by FDA representatives. APhA plans to publish the proceedings from the meeting as a white paper to serve as additional guidance to the FDA, manufacturers and other interested stakeholders.

Source:
American Pharmacists Association