APhA House of Delegates
New Business Review Committee
Orlando, Florida
March 29, 2014
The APhA House of Delegates New Business Review Committee met on Saturday, March 29,
2014, and presents the following report:
The APhA New Business Review Committee recommends adoption of New Business Item #1 as
written.
Pharmacists’ Responsibilities in Community Medication Awareness Programs
1. APhA supports the development of a comprehensive educational program on the
proper use and safe disposal of prescription and non-prescription medication.
The APhA New Business Review Committee recommends adoption of New Business Item #2 as
amended.
1. APhA supports education for pharmacists and student pharmacists to address issues of
pain management, palliative care, the appropriate use of opioid reversal agents in
overdose and of drug diversion and substance–related and addictive disorders.
2. APhA supports recognition of pharmacists as the health care providers who must
exercise professional judgment in the assessment of a patient’s conditions to fulfill
corresponding responsibility for the use of controlled substances and other medications
with the potential for abuse or diversion.
3. APhA supports pharmacists’ access to and use of prescription monitoring programs to
identify and prevent drug misuse, abuse and/or diversion.
4. APhA supports the development and implementation of state and federal laws and
regulations that permit pharmacists to furnish initiate therapy of patient-administered
opioid reversal agents to prevent opioid related deaths due to overdose.
5. APhA supports the pharmacist's role in selecting appropriate therapy, dosing, initiating
and providing education to patients about the proper use of patient-administered
opioid reversal agents to prevent opioid related deaths due to overdose.
The APhA New Business Review Committee recommends referral of New Business Item #3 to
the APhA Board of Trustees.
The Use and Sale of Electronic Cigarettes (e-Cigarettes)
1. APhA opposes the sale of e-Cigarettes and other vaporized nicotine products in pharmacies
until such time that scientific data support the health and environmental safety of these
products.
2. APhA opposes the use of e-Cigarettes and other vaporized nicotine products in any health
care facility, including pharmacies, until such time that scientific data support the health
and environmental safety of these products.
3. APhA urges pharmacists to become more knowledgeable about e-Cigarettes and other
vaporized nicotine products.
4. APhA urges the FDA to require the full disclosure of all ingredients in e-Cigarettes and
other vaporized nicotine products in both the pre-use and vapor states.
The APhA New Business Review Committee recommends referral of New Business Item #4 to
the APhA Board of Trustees.
Professional use of the terms “specialty” and “specialist”
1. The American Pharmacists Association supports the use of the terms “specialty” and
“specialist” only in those circumstances that are fully consistent with the definition of those
terms as found in the Council on Credentialing in Pharmacy resource paper entitled “Scope
of Contemporary Pharmacy Practice: Roles, Responsibilities, and Functions of Pharmacists
and Pharmacy Technicians (2009, et.seq.).” Further,
2. The American Pharmacists Association recommends that all pharmacy organizations,
educational institutions, publications and others that represent, serve, or communicate
about the profession confine their use of the terms:
“specialty” – to those areas of pharmacy practice in which the specialty being described
has been formally recognized through a publicly conducted role delineation and specialty
recognition process by an organization that is itself recognized by the American National
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Standards Institute (ANSI), the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) or
other nationally recognized body; and
“specialist” – to a pharmacist who has been certified in a recognized specialty by the Board
of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) or other pharmacy certification organization that conducts
its certification programs using processes that meet standards of ASNI, NCCA or other
nationally recognized body. Further,
3. The American Pharmacists Association discourages the use of either of these terms when
applied descriptively in relation to any particular drug product, a therapeutic drug class, the
cost or pricing structure of a medication or category of medications, or any process of
distribution and/or management that the medication’s manufacturer chooses or may be
required by regulatory authority to utilize.
The APhA New Business Review Committee recommends rejection of New Business Item #5 as
written.
Freedom of Scientific Information
APhA supports the principle of the free dissemination and exchange of scientific
information with only the following exceptions:
(a) prior mutual confidentiality agreement between sponsor and researcher,
(b) (a) material that is essential to national security, and
(c) (b) legitimate trade secrets and/or proprietary information.
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