APhA Policy Manual

1. APhA recognizes and supports pharmacist administration of prescription and non-prescription drugs as a component of pharmacy practice.
2. APhA supports the development of educational programs and practice guidelines for student pharmacists and practitioners for the administration of prescription and non-prescription drugs.
3. APhA supports pharmacist compensation for administration of prescription and non-prescription drugs and services related to such administration.

APhA supports vigorous enforcement of laws, regulations, and policies to ensure that all those who sell or dispense prescription and non-prescription drugs comply with legal criteria.

APhA supports the repeal of state laws, regulations, and policies that prohibit the dispensing of an otherwise legal prescription order, issued by a prescriber licensed in another state.

1. APhA supports the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) efforts to revise the drug and medical device classification paradigms for prescription and nonprescription medications and medical devices to allow greater access to certain medications and medical devices under conditions of safe use while maintaining patients' relationships with their pharmacists and other health care providers.
2. APhA supports the implementation or modification of state laws, regulations, and policies to facilitate pharmacists’ implementation and provision of services related to a revised drug and medical device classification system.
3. APhA supports a patient care delivery model built on coordination and communication between pharmacists and other health care team members in the evaluation and management of care delivery.
4. APhA affirms that pharmacists are qualified to provide clinical interventions on medications and medical devices under FDA’s approved conditions of safe use.
5. APhA urges manufacturers, FDA, and other stakeholders to include pharmacists’ input in the development and adoption of technology and standardized processes for services related to medications and medical devices under FDA’s defined conditions of safe use.
6. APhA supports the utilization of best practices, treatment algorithms, and clinical judgment of pharmacists and other health care providers to guide the evaluation and management of care delivery related to medications and medical devices under FDA’s approved conditions of safe use.
7. APhA encourages the inclusion of medications, medical devices, and their associated services provided under FDA’s defined conditions of safe use within health benefit coverage.
8. APhA supports compensation of pharmacists and other health care professionals for the provision of services related to FDA’s defined conditions of safe use programs.

1. APhA supports legal, regulatory, and policy changes to further facilitate clinical research related to the clinical efficacy and safety associated with the use of cannabis and its various components.
2. APhA encourages health care provider education related to the clinical efficacy, safety, and management of patients using cannabis and its various components.
3. APhA advocates that the pharmacist collect and document information in the pharmacy patient profile about patient use of cannabis and its various components and provide appropriate patient counseling.
4. APhA supports pharmacist participation in independently prescribing cannabis and its various components when scientific data support the legitimate medical use of the products and delivery mechanisms, and federal, state, or territory laws or regulations permit pharmacists to independently prescribe them.
5. APhA opposes pharmacist involvement in independently prescribing cannabis and its various components for recreational use.

1. APhA asserts that pharmacists’ patient care services and related prescribing by pharmacists help improve patient access to care, patient outcomes, and community health, and they align with coordinated, team-based care.
2. APhA supports increased patient access to care through pharmacist prescriptive authority models.
3. APhA opposes requirements and restrictions that impede patient access to pharmacist-prescribed medications and related services.
4. APhA urges prescribing pharmacists to coordinate care with patients’ other health care providers through appropriate documentation, communication, and referral.
5. APhA advocates that medications and services associated with prescribing by pharmacists must be covered and compensated in the same manner as for other prescribers.
6. APhA supports the right of patients to receive pharmacist-prescribed medications at the pharmacy of their choice.

APhA supports issuing drug products to patients by non-pharmacists under the control and direction of pharmacists.

APhA supports the voluntary involvement of pharmacists, in collaboration with other health care providers, in emergency contraceptive programs that include patient evaluation, patient education, and direct provision of emergency contraceptive medications.

1. APhA supports making insect sting kits and other, life-saving, emergency, treatment kits available for lawful dispensing by pharmacists without a prescription order, based on the pharmacist’s professional judgment.
2. APhA supports permitting pharmacists to lawfully dispense and administer legend drugs in emergency situations, without an order from a licensed prescriber, provided that: (a) there is an assessment on the part of the pharmacist and the patient that the drug is needed immediately to preserve the well-being of the patient; (b) the normal legal means for obtaining authorization to dispense the drug must not be immediately available, such as in cases where the patient’s physician is not available; and (c) the quantity of the drug, that can be dispensed in an emergency situation, is enough so that the emergency situation can subside, and the patient can be sustained for the immediate emergency, as determined by the pharmacist’s professional judgment.
3. APhA supports expansion of state Good Samaritan Acts to provide pharmacists immunity from professional liability for dispensing in emergency situations without order from a licensed prescriber.
4. APhA supports permitting pharmacists to lawfully dispense and/or administer legend drugs without an order from a licensed prescriber during disaster situations.