MPJE Pharmacist Practice Standards 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under the Controlled Substances Act, a pharmacist may dispense a Schedule III controlled substance with a verbal (oral) prescription. Within how many days must the oral prescription be reduced to writing?
- 24 hours
- 48 hours
- 72 hours
- 7 days (Correct answer)
Correct answer: 7 days
Federal law requires that oral prescriptions for Schedule III and IV controlled substances be promptly reduced to writing, generally documented within 7 days.
Question 2: Which of the following is a pharmacist's responsibility under HIPAA when a patient requests access to their own prescription records?
- Deny access to protect third-party prescriber information
- Provide access within 30 days of the request (Correct answer)
- Charge any fee deemed appropriate for record retrieval
- Require the patient to submit the request to their health plan instead
Correct answer: Provide access within 30 days of the request
HIPAA grants patients the right to access their protected health information, and covered entities must respond within 30 days (with one possible 30-day extension).
Question 3: A pharmacist-in-charge (PIC) resigns from a pharmacy. Who bears primary responsibility for ensuring the DEA registration is updated?
- The outgoing PIC only
- The incoming pharmacist-in-charge or pharmacy owner (Correct answer)
- The state board of pharmacy on notification
- The DEA automatically updates upon license change
Correct answer: The incoming pharmacist-in-charge or pharmacy owner
When a PIC changes, the pharmacy or new PIC must notify the DEA and update the registration to reflect the responsible party.
Question 4: A patient presents a prescription for oxycodone 30 mg #120 written by an out-of-state physician. The prescription appears legitimate. Under federal law, what may the pharmacist do?
- Refuse to fill any out-of-state Schedule II prescription
- Fill the prescription if it meets all federal and state requirements for a valid Schedule II prescription (Correct answer)
- Require the patient to get a new prescription from an in-state physician
- Fill only a 30-day emergency supply and require an in-state prescription for the rest
Correct answer: Fill the prescription if it meets all federal and state requirements for a valid Schedule II prescription
Federal law does not prohibit filling out-of-state Schedule II prescriptions; pharmacists must verify the prescription meets all legal requirements including validity and prescriber authority.
Question 5: Under pharmacy law, the standard of care for a pharmacist is BEST defined as:
- The highest possible level of pharmaceutical care achievable
- The care that a reasonably prudent pharmacist would provide under similar circumstances (Correct answer)
- The minimum care required to avoid criminal prosecution
- Care defined by the prescribing physician's instructions on the prescription
Correct answer: The care that a reasonably prudent pharmacist would provide under similar circumstances
The standard of care in pharmacy negligence cases is what a reasonably prudent pharmacist would do under the same or similar circumstances.
Question 6: A pharmacist working in a hospital notices that a medication order lacks the required indication for use per hospital policy. The pharmacist should:
- Dispense the medication and document the missing information later
- Refuse to dispense until the prescriber provides a written indication
- Contact the prescriber to clarify and complete the order before dispensing (Correct answer)
- Use professional judgment to determine the indication and dispense accordingly
Correct answer: Contact the prescriber to clarify and complete the order before dispensing
Pharmacists must ensure medication orders are complete and appropriate; contacting the prescriber to clarify incomplete orders before dispensing is the standard of care.
Question 7: Which of the following BEST describes a pharmacist's 'corresponding responsibility' under the CSA?
- The obligation to match every prescription against a patient's medication history
- The shared responsibility with the prescriber to ensure a controlled substance prescription is issued for a legitimate medical purpose (Correct answer)
- The duty to report all Schedule II prescriptions to the DEA monthly
- The requirement to correspond with insurance companies before dispensing controlled substances
Correct answer: The shared responsibility with the prescriber to ensure a controlled substance prescription is issued for a legitimate medical purpose
The CSA's corresponding responsibility doctrine holds pharmacists jointly responsible with prescribers for ensuring controlled substance prescriptions are for legitimate medical purposes.
MPJE Pharmacist Practice Standards 3
Under the Controlled Substances Act, a pharmacist may dispense a Schedule III controlled substance with a verbal (oral) prescription.
Within how many days must the oral prescription be reduced to writing?