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New Nevada Law Requires Prescription Label Readers For Print Impaired Patients

Brad Wilson/Getty Images

A new law aimed at assisting patients who are unable to read their own prescription labels took effect this year in Nevada.

Senate Bill 131 was sponsored by State Sen. Mo Denis, D-District 2 and requires pharmacies in the state to provide patients access to audio devices that can read their prescription labels for them.

Rick Kuhlmey, president of the Nevada Council of the Blind, said the technology has been around for decades but it wasn't until a recent push by his organization that lawmakers knew about it.

He said someone must read the information about each prescription into the reader, which is a small electronic device, the patient then scans a small chip attached to the bottom of the pill bottle into the reader and information about the prescription is read back.

Kuhlmey said the device isn't just for people who are blind or visually impaired he said people who have dyslexia or people who have a tremor in their hands could use it.

He said patients need to talk to their pharmacists about getting the device and they should provide it to them for free or at a very low cost. 

Contact information for anyone in need of a prescription label reader device:
ScripAbility, produced by EnVision America, Inc. - 1-800-890-1180  Optaphonic, produced by Accessamed - 1-855-669-5223                

Rick Kuhlmey, president, Nevada Council of the Blind

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Nikole Robinson Carroll is KNPR's Morning Edition host. You can hear her every morning from 5am until 10am on News 889. She also produces segments for KNPR's State of Nevada.