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Montana prescribing fines for sloppy doctors
Ambulatory Surgery Reimbursement Update, February 1, 2005
Does that say Vicodin or Vytorin? Pharmacists ask that question, and hundreds like it, every day all across America. Now, in Montana, if a pharmacist can't tell what the prescription says, the doctor with the illegible handwriting could face fines and/or disciplinary action.
A bill was endorsed on Thursday, January 20, by the Montana legislature that says that if a medical practitioner writes a prescription so messily that the dosage, instructions, and name and identification number of the practitioner can't be read by a pharmacist, that practitioner could face up to $500 in fines per incident, in addition to possible sanctions by their licensing boards.
Montana's House Judiciary Committee voted 16-2 to send an amended version of the bill to the House floor for debate.
"From my perspective, it's all about patient safety," Peter Wolfgram, a pharmacist who owns businesses in four locations throughout Montana, told the Billings Gazette. "If I can't read it, I can't dispense it. All it does is delay the treatment.'
To view the bill, click here.
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