Senator Josh Newman Introduces Legislation to End the Dangerous Practice of Pharmacy Performance Quotas

Sacramento, Calif. — State Senator Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) introduced legislation today to end the dangerous practice of imposing performance quotas on pharmacists based on profit, not health outcomes.

Under the provisions of SB 362, pharmacies in California no longer will be permitted to impose such quotas on prescriptions or services conducted by a pharmacist. Instead, licensed pharmacists will retain sole discretion in determining the appropriate amount of time required to fill each prescription and provide conscientious care to their patients.

At present, pharmacists are responsible for dispensing nearly 70 percent of all fulfilled prescriptions. Despite that intense workload, these same pharmacists typically also labor under aggressive sales quotas – such as trying to enroll 40 percent of patients into automatic refill programs, or having to fill a pre-determined number of prescriptions per hour. The pressures caused by these quotas, which are wholly unrelated to conscientious care, can adversely affect the professional and clinical judgment of pharmacists, thereby placing the public’s health at risk.

“The practice of enforcing pharmacy performance quotas poses a real risk to public health,” said Senator Newman. “In a public health emergency such as the one we are facing, in which pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are being depended upon to perform vital additional public health duties such as administering COVID-19 vaccines, the practice of burdening pharmacists with corporate sales quotas must end.”

Documents and data obtained by researchers, investigative reporters, and public prosecutors have established that large, corporate-owned pharmacy chains often impose performance quotas on licensed pharmacists and pharmacy technicians that can endanger the health and well-being of patients. These quotas, according to pharmacists and fellow employees, create high-stress work environments that can lead to dangerous dispensing errors.

“Pharmacists, like physicians, must be free to do their work consistent with their training and in accordance with the ethical dictates of their profession,” Newman said. “By passing SB 362, we will enable California’s pharmacists to honor their oaths and make clinical decisions based on patient care rather than corporate profit goals.”

“Corporations impose quotas to drive profits," said Suzanne Bradbury, a licensed California pharmacist and member of UFCW Local 324. "A pharmacist’s mission is patient health. Pharmacists are the last line of defense against potentially deadly drug interactions, but that’s just the beginning of our public health duties. Being required to meet a profit-driven quota on top of all of our work interferes with our professional judgment and forces pharmacists to choose between meeting the quota to keep our job or providing quality, patient-centered attention that Californians deserve.”

“Pharmacists, like other members of the healthcare team, must be allowed to provide care in a manner which is consistent with their education and training,” said Susan Bonilla, CEO of the California Pharmacists Association.

The United Food and Commercial Workers Western States Council and the California Pharmacists Association are co-sponsors of SB 362.

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State Senator Josh Newman represents the 29th Senate District, which is comprised of portions of Los Angeles County, Orange County and San Bernardino County. The 29th District includes all or parts of the cities of Anaheim, Brea, Buena Park, Chino Hills, City of Industry, Cypress, Diamond Bar, Fullerton, La Habra, La Palma, Placentia, Rowland Heights, Stanton, Walnut, West Covina and Yorba Linda. Senator Newman is a former United States Army officer, business person, and veterans’ advocate, and lives in Fullerton with his wife and daughter.