Establishing a rehabilitation program for impaired pharmacists.

The Texas Pharmaceutical Association (TPA) rehabilitation program for impaired pharmacists and pharmacy students is described. Since its inception in 1983, the TPA Pharmacists Rehabilitation Program has provided assistance to impaired pharmacists and pharmacy students, as well as their families, friends, customers, and coworkers. The program uses a carefully developed intervention process designed to assist impaired pharmacists and pharmacy students in obtaining evaluation and treatment of their condition. After a referral, an appointment is made for the impaired person at 1 of 15 regional evaluation and referral centers across the state, where arrangements for appropriate treatment are made. After treatment, the Committee on Pharmacists Rehabilitation aids the pharmacist or student in reentering the profession or returning to school. Intervenors are pharmacists registered in the state of Texas who have participated in TPA's training sessions; TPA also provides an intervenor's workbook. Amendments to the Texas Pharmacy Act passed in 1983 and 1985 provide protection for intervenors who are working with pharmacists and pharmacy students with impairment problems. Referrals are made by means of a 24-hour, toll-free hotline funded by a pharmaceutical manufacturing company. Other funding comes from individual donors, member associations affiliated with TPA, chain drugstores, wholesalers, and the Texas State Board of Pharmacy. A successful rehabilitation program for impaired pharmacists and students must be carefully designed and implemented, with attention paid to legal, financial, and intervention-related issues associated with substance abuse.