S-3582.2  _______________________________________________

                         SENATE BILL 6653

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington   57th Legislature        2002 Regular Session

By Senators Thibaudeau, Parlette and Kohl‑Welles

Read first time 01/24/2002.  Referred to Committee on Health & Long‑Term Care.

Modifying the information required on a prescription label.

    AN ACT Relating to information required to appear on a prescription label; and amending RCW 18.64.246.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

    Sec. 1.  RCW 18.64.246 and 1984 c 153 s 13 are each amended to read as follows:

    To every box, bottle, jar, tube or other container of a prescription which is dispensed there shall be fixed a label bearing the name and address of the ((pharmacy wherein the prescription is compounded, the corresponding serial number of the prescription, the name of the prescriber, his directions, the name of the medicine and the strength per unit dose, name of patient, date, the expiration date, and initials of the licensed pharmacist who has compounded the prescription, and)) dispensing pharmacy, the prescription number, the name of the prescriber, the prescriber's directions, the name and strength of the medication, the name of the patient, the date, and the expiration date.  The security of the cover or cap on every bottle or jar shall meet safety standards ((promulgated)) adopted by the state board of pharmacy((:  PROVIDED, That)).  At the ((physician's)) prescriber's request, the name and ((dosage)) strength of the ((drug)) medication need not be shown.  If the prescription is for a combination ((drug)) medication product, the generic names of the ((drugs)) medications combined or the trade name used by the manufacturer or distributor for the product shall be noted on the label.  The identification of the licensed pharmacist responsible for each dispensing of medication must either be recorded in the pharmacy's record system or on the prescription label.  This section shall not apply to the dispensing of ((medicines)) medications to in-patients in hospitals.

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