[Nfbmo] FDA and talking labels

[Gary Wunder]

U.S Access Board to Lead Effort to Develop Guidance on Accessible Drug
Labels

The Access Board will lead an effort to develop guidance on making
prescription drug labels accessible to people with vision impairments under
an act signed into law by President Obama this week. The "Food and Drug
Administration Safety and Innovation Act" includes measures to promote drug
safety and to improve FDA procedures for reviewing new medicines and medical
devices. 

A provision of the act authorizes the Board to convene a stakeholder working
group to develop best practices for making information on prescription drug
container labels accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired.
This group, which will include equal representation from advocacy
organizations and from industry, will develop best practices for pharmacies
on providing independent access to prescription drug container labels. The
working group will explore various alternatives, including braille, large
print labels, and auditory technologies such as "talking bottles" and radio
frequency identification tags. The group's recommendations, which are to be
developed within one year, will be advisory only, not mandatory, and will
not have the force of guidelines or standards. 

The law also calls upon the National Council on Disability to conduct an
informational and educational campaign in cooperation with the stakeholder
working group to inform the public, including people with disabilities and
pharmacists, of the best practices. The Government Accountability Office
will undertake a review at a later date to assess the extent to which
pharmacies are following the best practices and to what extent barriers to
information on prescription drug container labels remain.

For further information, contact Marsha Mazz at mazz at access-board.gov, (202)
272-0020 (v), or (202) 272-0076 (TTY). Additional information is posted on
the Board's website
<http://links.govdelivery.com:80/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkP
TIwMTIwNzEzLjkwMTc4MzEmbWVzc2FnZWlkPU1EQi1QUkQtQlVMLTIwMTIwNzEzLjkwMTc4MzEmZ
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XNlcmlkPWJsZW1vaW5lQGFjYi5vcmcmZmw9JmV4dHJhPU11bHRpdmFyaWF0ZUlkPSYmJg==&&&10
0&&&http://www.access-board.gov/news/drug-labels.htm> . Those interested in
this initiative can
<http://links.govdelivery.com:80/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkP
TIwMTIwNzEzLjkwMTc4MzEmbWVzc2FnZWlkPU1EQi1QUkQtQlVMLTIwMTIwNzEzLjkwMTc4MzEmZ
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XNlcmlkPWJsZW1vaW5lQGFjYi5vcmcmZmw9JmV4dHJhPU11bHRpdmFyaWF0ZUlkPSYmJg==&&&10
1&&&https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USACCESS/subscriber/new?topic_id
=USACCESS_27> sign up to receive further updates. 

 

 

 

 

Gary Wunder, President

National Federation of the Blind of Missouri

Email:  <mailto:gwunder at earthlink.net> gwunder at earthlink.net

Phone: (573) 874-1774

Cell: (573) 874-1774

Fax: (516) 224-3671