Drug Handling and Administration

A clinic with a pharmacy shall comply with the requirements of 105 CMR 140.345 and 105 CMR 722.000: Dispensing Procedures for Clinic and Hospital Pharmacies, which shall be included in the clinic pharmacy policy manual. (A) Administration. All drugs administered to patients in the clinic shall be administered by appropriately licensed personnel. (B) Access to Emergency Drugs. The clinic shall maintain an emergency medication kit. The emergency medication kit shall be kept in a separate sealed container when not in use. Drugs requiring refrigeration shall be kept in a separate sealed container under proper refrigeration when not in use. Each emergency medication kit shall be prepared, packaged and sealed by a registered pharmacist or pharmacyintern under the direct supervision of a registered pharmacist, and shall contain a list of contents on the outside cover and within the box. After an emergency medication kit has been opened, it shall be inspected, restocked and resealed by a registered pharmacist or a pharmacy intern under the direct supervision of a registered pharmacist the next day the clinic pharmacy is open. 140.345: continued (C) Drugs for External Use; Poisons. The clinic pharmacy shall label drugs for external use and poisons as such, and shall keep such drugs separate from other medications. (D) Labeling. All drugs shall be labeled adequately, including cautionary statements as appropriate. Clinic staff shall return drug containers with illegible, incomplete, damaged, worn, soiled, or missing labels to the clinic pharmacy, and the pharmacy staff shall dispose of such containers and drugs appropriately. (E) Outdated Drugs. As drugs become outdated, the clinic pharmacy shall eliminate them from its stock in accordance with clinic policy. All drugs shall be destroyed in accordance with applicable state and federal laws. (F) Prescriptions. All prescriptions shall be issued to patients and transmitted to a pharmacy on an Electronic Prescribing System, as defined in 105 CMR 721.000: Standards for Prescription Format and Security in Massachusetts, unless an ePrescribing exception, listed in 105 CMR 721.070: ePrescribing Exceptions, is applicable.