Final answer:
The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 mandated drug utilization evaluation for each prescription. This act aimed to help the elderly afford medications and emphasized the importance of ongoing drug safety assessments post-approval.
Step-by-step explanation:
The piece of legislation that required drug utilization evaluation (DUE) to be performed with each prescription is the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003. This act represented a substantial expansion of Medicare and provided significant assistance to the elderly, allowing them to better afford prescription drugs.
Recognizing that the elderly and disabled are particularly affected by the high costs of medications, this legislative change also brought a focus on the safety and efficacy of drug use after they have been brought to market. The introduction of a pharmacovigilance system was meant to continually assess drugs, even post-approval, ensuring the evaluation of long-term safety and effects in specific patient subgroups.