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2015 SESSION

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HB 1841 Prescription Monitoring Program; requirements for dispensers.

Introduced by: Charniele L. Herring | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles | history

SUMMARY AS PASSED HOUSE:

Prescription Monitoring Program; requirements for dispensers. Requires the Department of Health Professions to register every dispenser licensed by the Board of Pharmacy with the Prescription Monitoring Program and eliminates the requirement that such registration occur upon filing of an application for licensure or renewal of a license. The bill also limits the requirement that a prescriber who prescribes benzodiazepine or an opiate request information from the Director of the Department of Health Professions to determine what other covered substances are currently prescribed to a patient in cases in which the course of treatment is anticipated at the onset of treatment to last more than 90 days. The provisions of the bill relating to registration of dispensers become effective on January 1, 2016.

SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED:

Prescription Monitoring Program; requirements for dispensers. Requires every prescriber who is authorized to prescribe covered substances and every dispenser to be registered with the Prescription Monitoring Program and allows prescribers and dispensers six months to comply with the registration requirement; provides that a prescriber shall request information about a recipient any time the prescriber prescribes a 90-day supply of benzodiazepine or opiate, regardless of whether a treatment plan has been entered into; requires a dispenser registered with the program to request information about covered substances that have been dispensed to a patient when the dispenser is dispensing benzodiazepines or opiates expected to last more than 90 days; and authorizes the Director the Department of Health Professions to disclose information about a specific recipient to a dispenser for the purpose of establishing a prescription history to assist the dispenser in determining what, if any, other covered substances have been dispensed to the patient. This bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2016 for provisions requiring dispensers and prescribers to register with the Prescription Monitoring Program.