Chapter 1: Legal Aspects

Question 1

What is the difference between administering and dispensing medication?

Answer 1

• administering: giving a single dose of medication for immediate use (or within 24 hours)
• dispensing: preparing, labeling, or providing multiple doses of a medication for future use

Question 2

Define formulary:

Answer 2

A list of medications used by a health care entity

Question 3

What is the FDA and what do they do?

Answer 3

• Food and Drug Administration
• regulates the safety, efficacy, and security of drugs including appropriate labeling

Question 4

What is the DEA and what do they do?

Answer 4

• Drug Enforcement Administration
• enforces federal laws related to controlled substances

Question 5

What is OSHA and what do they do?

Answer 5

• Occupational Safety and Health Administration
• oversees concerns related to contamination of and exposure to hazardous drugs

Question 6

Define drug:

Answer 6

Any substance (other than food and water) that is consumed, inhaled, injected, smoked, absorbed via a patch on the skin (transdermal), or dissolved under the tongue (sublingual) to create a physiological (and often psychological) change within the body

Question 7

The Controlled Substances Act places all substances that were in some manner regulated under existing federal law into 1 of 5 schedules based on what 3 factors?

Answer 7

1. Potential for abuse
2. Accepted medical use
3. Safety and potential for addiction

Question 8

Why are heroin and cocaine put in different schedules?

Answer 8

• heroin is a schedule 1 drug: no value or role as a prescription medication.
• cocaine is a schedule 2 drug: can be used as a local anesthetic for the oral, nasal, and laryngeal cavities.

Question 9

Define schedule 1 drugs:

Answer 9

• drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse
• do not have an FDA approved medical use (indication)

Question 10

Define schedule 2 drugs:

Answer 10

Drugs with a high potential for abuse, with use potentially leading to severe psychological or physical dependence

Question 11

Define schedule 3 drugs:

Answer 11

Drugs with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence

Question 12

Define schedule 4 drugs:

Answer 12

Drugs with a low potential for abuse and low risk of dependence

Question 13

Define schedule 5 drugs:

Answer 13

• lower potential for abuse than schedule 4
• consist of preparations containing limited quantities of certain narcotics

Question 14

Schedule 5 drugs are generally used for what purposes?

Answer 14

• antidiarrheal
• antitussive
• analgesic

Question 15

Define noncontrolled substances:

Answer 15

Prescription medications with less risk of abuse or addiction that have the purpose of treating various medical conditions