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ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
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2020 SESSION
Barker (Chair), Saslaw, Newman, Edwards, Lewis, Dunnavant, Suetterlein
Date of Meeting: January 31, 2020
Time and Place: 8:00 am - Subcommittee Room 2, 5th Fl. Pocahontas Bldg.
PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE IN MEETING TIME - 1/2 hr. earlier
Patron: Stanley
Board of Social Work; licensure by endorsement. Requires the Board of Social Work to establish in regulations the requirements for licensure by endorsement as a social worker. The bill allows the Board to issue licenses to persons licensed to practice social work under the laws of another state, the District of Columbia, or a United States possession or territory, if, in the opinion of the Board, the applicant meets the qualifications required of licensed social workers in the Commonwealth.
Patron: Edwards
Possession and administration of epinephrine; restaurant employee. Authorizes any employee of a licensed restaurant to possess and administer epinephrine, provided that such employee is authorized by a prescriber and trained in the administration of epinephrine. The bill also requires the Department of Health, in conjunction with the Department of Health Professions, to develop policies and guidelines for the recognition and treatment of anaphylaxis in restaurants.
Patron: Edwards
Advance directives; physician assistants; capacity determinations. Adds physician assistants to the list of health care practitioners permitted to determine that a person who has executed an advance directive granting an agent the authority to consent to the person's admission to a facility, as defined in § 37.2-100, for mental health treatment is incapable of making an informed decision regarding such admission.
Patron: Edwards
Collaborative practice agreements; nurse practitioners; physician assistants. Adds nurse practitioners and physician assistants to the list of health care practitioners who shall not be required to participate in a collaborative agreement with a pharmacist and his designated alternate pharmacists, regardless of whether a professional business entity on behalf of which the person is authorized to act enters into a collaborative agreement with a pharmacist and his designated alternate pharmacists. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Commission on Healthcare.
Patron: Edwards
Naloxone; possession and administration. Provides that a person who is not otherwise authorized to administer naloxone or other opioid antagonist used for overdose reversal may administer naloxone or other opioid antagonist used for overdose reversal to a person who is believed to be experiencing or about to experience a life-threatening opioid overdose, provided the administration is in good faith and absent gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct.
Patron: Dunnavant
Prescription Monitoring Program; information disclosed to the Emergency Department Information Exchange; redisclosure. Provides for the mutual exchange of information between the Prescription Monitoring Program and the Emergency Department Information Exchange and clarifies that nothing shall prohibit the redisclosure of confidential information from the Prescription Monitoring Program or any data or reports produced by the Prescription Monitoring Program disclosed to the Emergency Department Information Exchange to a prescriber in an electronic report generated by the Emergency Department Information Exchange so long as the electronic report complies with relevant federal law and regulations governing privacy of health information.
Patron: Deeds
Licensure of psychologists; Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact. Authorizes Virginia to become a signatory to the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact. The Compact permits eligible licensed psychologists to practice in Compact member states, provided that they are licensed in at least one member state. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2021, and directs the Board of Psychology to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill.
Patron: Lewis
Pharmacy technicians and pharmacy technician trainees; registration. Amends eligibility criteria for registration as a pharmacy technician to include a requirement that (i) the individual has completed a training program that is (a) an accredited training program approved by the Board of Pharmacy, (b) operated through a federal agency or branch of the military, or (c) operated through the Department of Education's Career and Technical Education program and (ii) the applicant has successfully passed a national certification examination administered by the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board or the National Healthcareer Association. The bill defines "pharmacy technician trainee" and sets out requirements for registration as a pharmacy technician trainee.
Patron: Suetterlein
Naloxone; possession and administration; employee or person acting on behalf of a public place. Provides that an employee or other person acting on behalf of a public place who has completed a training program on the administration of naloxone or other opioid antagonist may possess and administer naloxone or other opioid antagonist, other than naloxone in an injectable formulation with a hypodermic needle or syringe, in accordance with protocols developed by the Board of Pharmacy in consultation with the Board of Medicine and the Department of Health. The bill defines "public place" as any enclosed area that is used or held out for use by the public, whether owned or operated by a public or private interest.
Patron: Marsden
Board of Pharmacy; pharmaceutical processors; processing and dispensing cannabis oil. Replaces the definitions of cannabidiol oil and THC-A oil with a definition for cannabis oil. The bill requires the Board of Pharmacy to establish a pharmacist-to-pharmacist-technician supervision ratio of one to eight for pharmaceutical processors. The bill allows practitioners to utilize telemedicine in evaluating and treating patients related to the issuance of written certifications for the use of cannabis oil. The bill permits pharmaceutical processors to establish up to five off-site dispensing locations within the health service area of the pharmaceutical processor. The bill directs the Board of Pharmacy to require that, after processing and before dispensing cannabidiol oil and THC-A oil, a pharmaceutical processor make a homogenized sample available from each batch of product for testing at an independent laboratory meeting board requirements. The bill directs the Board of Pharmacy to adopt regulations for the dispensing of unprocessed cannabis flower in the same manner as cannabis oil. The bill specifies that a licensed pharmacist shall only be required on the premises of the pharmaceutical processor during dispensing hours and during the production of cannabis oil and may authorize certain employee access to secured areas designated for cultivation and extraction and other areas approved by the Board.
Patron: Hashmi
Physicians; medical specialty board certification options. Prohibits requiring maintenance of certification from physicians licensed to practice medicine in the Commonwealth, as a prerequisite to hospital medical staff membership, employment, malpractice liability insurance coverage, network status, or reimbursement for services provided to a person covered by a health insurance policy.
Patron: Dunnavant
Pharmacists; prescribing, dispensing, and administering of certain drugs and devices. Authorizes the prescribing, dispensing, and administering of certain drugs and devices by a pharmacist, provided that such pharmacist prescribes, dispenses, or administers such drugs and devices in accordance with a statewide protocol developed by the Board of Pharmacy in consultation with the Board of Medicine and set forth in regulations of the Board of Pharmacy. The bill clarifies that an accident and sickness insurance policy that provides reimbursement for a service that may be legally performed by a licensed pharmacist shall provide reimbursement for the prescribing, dispensing, or administering of drugs and devices by a pharmacist when such prescription, dispensation, or administration is in accordance with regulations of the Board of Pharmacy.
Patron: McClellan
Schedule VI controlled substances; hypodermic syringes and needles; limited-use license. Allows the Board of Pharmacy to issue a limited-use license for the purpose of dispensing Schedule VI controlled substances and hypodermic syringes and needles for the administration of prescribed controlled substances to a doctor of medicine, osteopathic medicine, or podiatry, a nurse practitioner, or a physician assistant, provided that such limited-use licensee is practicing at a nonprofit facility. The bill requires such nonprofit facilities to obtain a limited-use permit from the Board and comply with regulations for such a permit.
Patron: Suetterlein
Board of Medicine; medically unnecessary chaperones. Directs the Board of Medicine to amend its regulations to require that patients be notified that they have the right to opt out of the presence of a chaperone during medical examinations, provided that the chaperone is medically unnecessary. The bill also requires the regulations to include a provision permitting health care practitioners to refuse to perform medical services for a patient who refuses the presence of a chaperone.