Access Board Provides Best Practices for Accessible Prescription Labels

July 2013 — Pursuant to Section 904 of the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act, the U.S. Access Board Working Group on Accessible Prescription Drug Container Labels released best practices for accessible prescription drug labels for people who are blind or have low vision.  According to the report, accessible labels are necessary to ensure that people who are blind or have low vision are not at risk of taking, or providing to someone in their care, the wrong medications, expired medications or the wrong dosage.  The Access Board notes that prescription drug container labels can be made accessible through the use of braille, large print and dedicated electronic equipment, and provides format-specific best practices such as ensuring all labels provided in an audio format are presented in a clear voice with minimal background noise, printing braille labels on a transparent material to “preserve the legibility of the print container,” and printing large-print labels in 18-point, non-condensed, sans-serif font.  Despite the delivery method, the Access Board also notes that accessible labels should be provided free of charge to users and within the same time frame as prescriptions with non-accessible labels and any duplicate labels should “preserve the integrity of the print prescription drug container label.”  The best practices presented by the Access Board are not mandatory, however the National Council on Disability will “conduct an informational and educational campaign” to inform the public of the practices, while the Government Accountability Office will review adoption of the practices in pharmacies nationwide beginning 18 months after the release of the practices.