IT’S OK TO SAY NO.
YOU MIGHT JUST SAVE A LIFE.

OARRS RULES FOR PHARMACISTS

Per OAC 4729:5-5-08, prior to dispensing an outpatient prescription for a controlled substance a pharmacist must request and review an OARRS report covering at least a one-year time period. To assist pharmacists in the implementation of this rule, the Board put together a one-page fact sheet and pocket card that provides the circumstances in which a pharmacist will be required to query OARRS.

• When to Check OARRS - One Pager - Pharmacists
• When to Check OARRS - Pocket Card - Prescribers and Pharmacists

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SOMETIMES WE JUST HAVE TO SAY NO

The Board also created a one-page sheet designed to assist pharmacists in talking with a patient in situations where they may need to refuse to fill a prescription. Entitled “Sometimes We Just Have to Say No”, the fact sheet provides an overview of when prescriptions are not considered valid, explains a pharmacist’s corresponding responsibility under the law and provides a phone number where patients and families can locate an addiction treatment provider.

• Sometimes We Just Have to Say No - Flier

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CORRESPONDING RESPONSIBILITY

The Board would like to remind all pharmacists that a corresponding responsibility rests with the pharmacist who dispenses any prescription. An order purporting to be a prescription issued not in the usual course of bona fide treatment of a patient is not a prescription and the person knowingly dispensing such a purported prescription, as well as the person issuing it, shall be subject to the penalties of law. Pharmacists must use professional judgment when making a determination about the legitimacy of a prescription. A pharmacist shall not dispense a prescription of doubtful, questionable, or suspicious origin [OAC 4729-5-5-08 (G), 4729:5-5-10 (A), & 4729:5-5-15 (A)].