I 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5491 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize grants to States to 
establish and implement programs for registering pharmaceutical technicians. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 26, 2008 
Mr. LATOURETTE (for himself, Mr. LYNCH, and Mr. BURTON of Indiana) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on En-
ergy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize grants 
to States to establish and implement programs for reg-
istering pharmaceutical technicians. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pharmacy Technician 
Training and Registration Act of 2008’’ or as ‘‘Emily’s 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
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(1) Common pharmacy technician tasks include 
calling doctors to authorize prescription refills, put-
ting medications into prescription containers, enter-
ing prescriptions into computers, typing drug labels, 
and, in many States, mixing drugs from raw mate-
rials, preparing intravenous solutions, and even pre-
paring chemotherapy treatments. 
(2) There are few State and no Federal require-
ments for formal training or certification of phar-
macy technicians, according to the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics (BLS). 
(3) Employment of pharmacy technicians is ex-
pected to grow much faster than the average rate for 
all occupations through 2014, because, according to 
the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as the population 
grows and ages demand for pharmaceuticals will in-
crease dramatically. 
(4) About 7 out of 10 of pharmacy technician 
jobs are in retail pharmacies, grocery stores, depart-
ment stores, or mass retailers, according to the Bu-
reau of Labor Statistics. 
(5) About 2 out of 10 pharmacy technician jobs 
are in hospitals, according to the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics. 
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(6) Millions of medication doses are dispensed 
annually at hospitals, and a February 2006 study on 
hospital dispensing errors by the Joint Commission 
Journal on Quality and Patient Safety found that 
pharmacists failed to detect more than 20 percent of 
all filling errors made by pharmacy technicians. 
(7) The MEDMARX Data Report released in 
January 2008 revealed that more than 1,400 com-
monly used drugs are involved in medication errors 
linked to drug names that look or sound alike. This 
study reviewed more than 26,000 records from 2003 
to 2006. This result is nearly double the number of 
pairs that were identified in the previous report on 
this topic in 2004. 
(8) Since 1992, the Food and Drug Adminis-
tration has received more than 20,000 voluntary re-
ports of medication errors. 
SEC. 3. STATE PHARMACEUTICAL TECHNICIAN REGISTRA-
TION PROGRAMS. 
Part D of title III of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 254b et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
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‘‘Subpart XI—Pharmaceutical Technicians 
‘‘SEC. 340H. STATE PHARMACEUTICAL TECHNICIAN REG-
ISTRATION PROGRAMS. 
‘‘(a) GRANTS.—The Secretary of Health and Human 
Services may make grants to States to establish and im-
plement a pharmaceutical technician registration program 
described in subsection (b). 
‘‘(b) REGISTRATION
PROGRAM
DESCRIPTION.—A 
pharmaceutical technician registration program described 
in this subsection is a program under which— 
‘‘(1) the State prohibits an individual from per-
forming the duties of a pharmaceutical technician in 
such State unless the individual is registered by the 
State Board of Pharmacy to perform such duties; 
and 
‘‘(2) as minimum requirements for such reg-
istration, the State requires the individual— 
‘‘(A) to have attained a secondary school 
diploma or its recognized equivalent; 
‘‘(B) to be certified by the Pharmacy Tech-
nician Certification Board; and 
‘‘(C) to have— 
‘‘(i) attained an associate’s degree in 
pharmacy technology; 
‘‘(ii) completed a course of training 
for pharmaceutical technicians accredited 
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by the American Society of Health-System 
Pharmacists; or 
‘‘(iii) graduated from a school of 
pharmacy recognized by the State Board of 
Pharmacy. 
‘‘(c) ANNUAL
REPORTING
ON
PHARMACEUTICAL 
TECHNICIAN ERRORS.—As a condition on the receipt of 
a grant under this section, a State shall agree to submit 
an annual report to the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services on pharmaceutical technician errors in the State. 
‘‘(d) TRANSITIONAL PERIOD FOR PRACTICING TECH-
NICIANS.—A State receiving a grant under this section 
may provide a transitional period for individuals who 
began practicing as pharmaceutical technicians before the 
date of the enactment of this section to comply with the 
requirements of the registration program under this sec-
tion. 
‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘State Board of Pharmacy’ 
means the regulatory body empowered by the State 
to regulate the pharmaceutical practice, including 
granting registrations to and disciplining individuals 
and companies. 
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‘‘(2) The term ‘pharmacy technician’ means an 
individual who assists a pharmacist in the perform-
ance of his or her pharmacy-related duties. 
‘‘(3) The term ‘secondary school’ has the mean-
ing given to such term in section 9101 of the Ele-
mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. 
‘‘(4) The term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary 
of Health and Human Services.’’. 
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of the Congress that State Boards of 
Pharmacy should strive to ensure— 
(1) a ratio of 2 pharmaceutical technicians to 
each pharmacist in hospital settings; and 
(2) a ratio of 3 pharmaceutical technicians to 
each pharmacist in other settings, including drug 
stores. 
Æ 
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