Urgent Call to Action
Senate Bill 711 will be heard Friday morning at 8:30 AM by the Senate Subcommittee Health Professions.
POCOHANTAS BUILDING
5TH FLOOR, ROOM 2
(There is no zoom sign up at this time)
Summary;
Prescriptions; off-label use. Provides that a licensed health care provider with prescriptive authority may prescribe, administer, or dispense a drug that has been approved for a specific use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for an off-label use when the health care provider determines, in his professional judgment, that such off-label use is appropriate for the care and treatment of the patient and prohibits a pharmacist from refusing to dispense a drug for off-label use if a valid prescription is presented.
The goal of this bill is to ensure pharmacists do not interfere between patients/providers. If passed it guarantees prescriptions for off-label uses of medications are filled. Currently, many pharmacists are refusing to fill prescriptions for certain medications.
Talking points (Provided by Children's Health Defense):
▪Pharmacists should not come between a patient and their doctor.
▪Pharmacists should fill prescriptions for patients as prescribed by their doctors.
▪There are many drugs that have benefits that were not anticipated when they were first created.
-- Pharmacists should not interfere in a physician's decision to prescribe a drug for an off-label use.
Additional Talking Points
- Pharmacists do not have tangible knowledge of the patient history or needs. They have no authority to refuse medications prescribed by a patients physician.
- During the 2020 session, when hearing testimony on HB1090, this committee decided that medical decisions should remain with the medical community and not in the hands of this legislature. This argument applies to this bill as well.
-This bill is not about personal or political positions on a certain medication, it is about patient rights and the privacy that should be guaranteed in the patient/provider relationship.
Please email and call the Committee;
Senator George Barker (Chair): District39@senate.virginia.gov (804) 698-7539
Senator Saslaw: District35@senate.virginia.gov (804) 698-7535
Senator Newman: District23@senate.virginia.gov (804) 698-7523
Senator Edwards: District21@senate.virginia.gov (804) 698-7521
Senator Lewis: District06@senate.virginia.gov (804) 698-7506
Senator Dunnavant: District12@senate.virginia.gov (804) 698-7512
Senator Suetterlein: District19@senate.virginia.gov (804) 698-7519
Senator Pillion: District40@senate.virginia.gov (804) 698-7540
