[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 243 (Tuesday, December 18, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74827-74828]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-30413]


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ARCHITECTURAL AND TRANSPORTATION BARRIERS COMPLIANCE BOARD


Working Group on Access to Information on Prescription Drug 
Container Labels

AGENCY: Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act 
authorizes the Access 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. The working group will hold its first meeting on January 10 
and 11, 2013.

DATES: The Working Group will meet on January 10, 2013, from 9:30 a.m. 
to 5:00 p.m. and on January 11, 2013, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Access Board's Conference 
Room, 1331 F Street NW., suite 800, Washington, DC 20004-1111.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Crawford, Architectural and 
Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, 1331 F Street NW., suite 
1000, Washington, DC 20004-1111. Telephone number (202) 272-0029. 
Electronic mail address: board.gov">crawford@access-board.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 9, 2012, the President signed into 
law the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (Pub. L. 
112-144, 126 Stat. 993). Section 904 of the Act authorizes the Access 
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. See 29 U.S.C. 792 note. 
The Act exempts the working group from the Federal Advisory Committee 
Act. The Board has formed an 18-member working group with equal 
representation from national organizations representing blind and 
visually-impaired individuals, the elderly, and industry groups 
representing retail, mail order, and independent community pharmacies 
to 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 various auditory technologies such as ``talking bottles'' and radio 
frequency identification tags.

[[Page 74828]]

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.
    The working group will hold its first meeting on January 10 and 11, 
2013. The agenda for the meeting includes initial remarks, introduction 
of working group members, discussion of administrative issues, 
discussion of prescription label access needs of consumer members, 
discussion of current practices, discussion and review of evaluation 
criteria to use to determine best practices, hands-on demonstrations of 
recommended practices, evaluation of recommended practices, and 
discussion of next steps. The preliminary meeting agenda, along with 
information about the working group, is available at http://www.access-board.gov/news/drug-labels-working-group.htm.
    Working group meetings are open to the public and interested 
persons can attend the meetings and communicate their views. Members of 
the public will have opportunities to address the working group on 
issues of interest to them during public comment periods scheduled on 
each day of the meeting.
    The meetings will be accessible to persons with disabilities. An 
assistive listening system, computer assisted real-time transcription 
(CART), and sign language interpreters will be provided. Persons 
attending the meetings are requested to refrain from using perfume, 
cologne, and other fragrances for the comfort of other participants 
(see www.access-board.gov/about/policies/fragrance.htm for more 
information). Persons wishing to provide handouts or other written 
information to the working group are requested to provide electronic 
formats to Susan Crawford via email prior to the meetings so that 
alternate formats can be distributed to working group members.

David M. Capozzi,
Executive Director.
[FR Doc. 2012-30413 Filed 12-17-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8150-01-P