National Association of Boards of Pharmacy

The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy[1] (NABP) is an international association which assists state licensing boards in developing, implementing, and enforcing uniform standards relating to pharmacies.

The NABP membership includes two Australian states and nine Canadian provinces, in addition to the fifty federal states of the US, the District of Columbia, and three U.S. territories.

Part of the NABP's work includes standardised tests to aid in licensing, such as the Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination and NAPLEX.

History

The NABP originated in the United States in 1904.

In 1999, the NABP developed the Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites (VIPPS) program to accredit online pharmacies. Vet-VIPPS, awarded to online veterinary pharmacies, has been granted to sites including PetMeds, VetCentric,[2] and VetRxDirect.[3]

In 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended VIPPS to consumers as "one method to help minimize the risks of getting bad quality drugs from disreputable sources".

Also in 2004, the NABP developed the Verified-Accredited Wholesale Distributors (VAWD) program to accredit Wholesale Distributors and to help protect the public from the threat of counterfeit drugs.[4]

In 2011, the NABP implemented a data exchange that allows authorized pharmacists, law enforcement agents, and regulatory boards to access patient-specific controlled substance prescription information. Known as NABP InterConnect®, the platform provides a single page summary of patient's drug seeking activities across state lines. As of 2013, authorized users in 11 states have accessed data using the system in order to prevent drug abuse and drug diversion.[5]

Top-level domain .pharmacy

In 2014, the NABP launched the generic top-level domain (gTLD) .pharmacy, "to provide consumers around the world a means for identifying safe, legal, and ethical online pharmacies and related resources".[6]

The impartiality of the domain has been questioned, because Eli Lilly and Company, Merck & Co., and Pfizer are the main contributors to the NABP application. Previously, that application was challenged by Public Citizen, Knowledge Ecology International, and the Canadian International Pharmacy Association.[7]

References

  1. ↑ NABP. Retrieved from http://www.nabp.net.
  2. ↑ PR Newswire. Retrieved from http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vetcentric-receives-vet-vipps-certification-from-nabp-92856124.html.
  3. ↑ NABP Press Release
  4. ↑ Background of the VAWD. Retrieved from http://www.nabp.net/vawd/VAWDbackground.pdf.
  5. ↑ "System Gives Authorized Users Access to Interstate Information on Controlled Substance Prescriptions, Assisting Them in Identifying Cases of Potential Misuse". Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. 2013-06-05. Retrieved 2013-06-06.
  6. ↑ NABP Launches .Pharmacy Generic Top-Level Domain to Help Consumers Find Safe Pharmacies Online—National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (September 9, 2014)
  7. ↑ Can The Dot Pharmacy New Generic Domain Be Impartial?—Intellectual Property Watch (July 7, 2014)


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