Section 21: Packaging and labeling by pharmacist filling prescription; distribution of educational pamphlet
Section 21. The pharmacist filling a written, electronic or oral prescription for a controlled substance shall package the controlled substance in a container, affixing to the container a label showing the date of filling, the pharmacy name and address, the filling pharmacist's initials, the serial number of the prescription, the name of the patient, unless it is a veterinary prescription, the name of the prescribing practitioner, the name of the controlled substance, directions for use and cautionary statements, if any, contained in such prescription or required by law, and if the controlled substance is dispensed as tablets or capsules the number of same in such container.
Upon the request of an elderly person, as defined in section fourteen of chapter nineteen A or a person visually impaired, directions on the label affixed by the pharmacist to a container of a prescription drug shall be typed in a print size allowing no more than ten characters per inch.
The department of public health shall produce and distribute either in written or electronic form to pharmacies, not including institutional pharmacies, pamphlets for consumers relative to narcotic drugs, specifically opiates, that includes educational information about: (i) pain management; (ii) misuse and abuse by adults and children; (iii) risk of dependency and addiction; (iv) proper storage and disposal; (v) addiction support and treatment resources; and (vi) the telephone helpline operated by the bureau of substance addiction services established in section 18 of chapter 17. A pharmacist shall distribute the pamphlet when dispensing a narcotic or controlled substance contained in Schedule II or III.
The labeling provisions of this section shall apply to the compounding and dispensing of drugs on the oral, electronic or written prescription of a licensed and registered prescriber under section 9. All drug preparations compounded, made or formulated by a pharmacy licensed by the board of registration in pharmacy shall have affixed to their container by the compounding pharmacy a label notifying prescribed users and practitioners that the drug is either a sterile or non-sterile compounded drug preparation.
All pharmacies engaged in sterile or complex non-sterile compounding and licensed under sections 39G to 39I, inclusive, of chapter 112 shall provide a telephone number to foster communication between patients in the commonwealth and a pharmacist employed by the pharmacy who has access to the patient's records. The phone shall be staffed during regular hours of operation every day and not less than 56 hours per week. The phone number shall be affixed to the drug's container, alongside the label notifying prescribed users and practitioners of the fact that the drug is a compounded drug preparation. This paragraph shall not apply to an institutional pharmacy licensed pursuant to section 39I of chapter 112 if the sterile drug preparation compounded by such pharmacy is to be administered to an individual admitted as an inpatient within the same hospital.