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1998 SESSION


CHAPTER 101
An Act to amend and reenact §§ 54.1-3301 and 54.1-3303 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the Board of Pharmacy.
[H 1102]
Approved March 13, 1998

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 54.1-3301 and 54.1-3303 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 54.1-3301. Exceptions.

This chapter shall not be construed to:

1. Interfere with any legally qualified practitioner of dentistry, or veterinary medicine or any physician acting on behalf of the Virginia Department of Health or local health departments, in the compounding of his prescriptions or the purchase and possession of drugs as he may require;

2. Prevent any legally qualified practitioner of dentistry, or veterinary medicine or any physician acting on behalf of the Virginia Department of Health or local health departments, from administering or supplying to his patients the medicines that he deems proper under the conditions of § 54.1-3303;

3. Prohibit the sale by merchants and retail dealers of proprietary medicines as defined in Chapter 34 (§ 54.1-3400 et seq.) of this title;

4. Prevent the operation of mechanical devices in hospitals for the dispensing of drugs for which the Board has prescribed standards of operation;

5. Prohibit the employment of ancillary personnel to assist a pharmacist as provided in the regulations of the Board; or

6. Interfere with any legally qualified practitioner of medicine, osteopathy, or podiatry from purchasing, possessing or administering controlled substances to his own patients or providing controlled substances to his own patients in a bona fide medical emergency or providing manufacturers' professional samples to his own patients.; or

7. Interfere with any legally qualified practitioner of optometry, certified or licensed to use diagnostic pharmaceutical agents, from purchasing, possessing or administering those controlled substances as specified in § 54.1-3221 or interfere with any legally qualified practitioner of optometry certified to prescribe therapeutic pharmaceutical agents from purchasing, possessing, or administering to his own patients those controlled substances as specified in § 54.1-3222 and the TPA formulary or providing manufacturers' samples of these drugs to his own patients.

This section shall not be construed as exempting any person from the licensure, registration, permitting and record keeping requirements of this chapter or Chapter 34 of this title.

§ 54.1-3303. Prescriptions to be issued and drugs to be dispensed for medical or therapeutic purposes only.

A. A prescription for a controlled substance may be issued only by a practitioner of medicine, osteopathy, podiatry, dentistry or veterinary medicine who is authorized to prescribe controlled substances, or by a licensed nurse practitioner pursuant to § 54.1-2957.01, a licensed physician assistant pursuant to § 54.1-2952.1, or a TPA-certified optometrist pursuant to Article 5 (§ 54.1-3222 et seq.) of Chapter 32 of this title. The prescription shall be issued for a medicinal or therapeutic purpose and may be issued only to persons or animals with whom the practitioner has a bona fide practitioner-patient relationship.

For purposes of this section, a bona fide practitioner-patient-pharmacist relationship is one in which a practitioner prescribes, and a pharmacist dispenses, controlled substances in good faith to his patient for a medicinal or therapeutic purpose within the course of his professional practice. Any practitioner who prescribes any controlled substance with the knowledge that the controlled substance will be used otherwise than medicinally or for therapeutic purposes shall be subject to the criminal penalties provided in § 18.2-248 for violations of the provisions of law relating to the distribution or possession of controlled substances.

B. No prescription shall be filled which does not result from a bona fide practitioner-patient-pharmacist relationship. A prescription not issued in the usual course of treatment or for authorized research is not a valid prescription.

In order to determine whether a prescription which appears questionable to the pharmacist results from a bona fide practitioner-patient-pharmacist relationship, the pharmacist shall contact the prescribing practitioner or his agent and verify the identity of the patient and name and quantity of the drug prescribed. The person knowingly filling an invalid prescription shall be subject to the criminal penalties provided in § 18.2-248 for violations of the provisions of law relating to the sale, distribution or possession of controlled substances.

C. A pharmacist may dispense a controlled substance pursuant to a prescription of an out-of-state practitioner of medicine, osteopathy, podiatry, dentistry or veterinary medicine authorized to issue such prescription if the prescription complies with the requirements of this chapter and Chapter 34 (§ 54.1-3400 et seq.) of this title, known as the "Drug Control Act," except that out-of-state prescriptions are not required to comply with the provisions of subsection A of § 32.1-87 and subsection C of § 54.1-3408 which establish a prescription blank format accommodating the Virginia Voluntary Formulary.

D. A licensed nurse practitioner who is authorized to prescribe controlled substances pursuant to § 54.1-2957.01 may issue prescriptions for Schedule VI controlled substances and devices as set forth in Chapter 34 of this title in good faith to his patient for a medicinal or therapeutic purpose within the scope of his professional practice.

E. A licensed physician assistant who is authorized to prescribe controlled substances pursuant to § 54.1-2952.1 may issue prescriptions for Schedule VI controlled substances and devices as set forth in Chapter 34 of this title in good faith to his patient for a medicinal or therapeutic purpose within the scope of his professional practice.

F. A TPA-certified optometrist who is authorized to prescribe controlled substances pursuant to Article 5 (§ 54.1-3222 et seq.) of Chapter 32 of this title may issue prescriptions in good faith or provide manufacturers' professional samples to his patients for medicinal or therapeutic purposes within the scope of his professional practice for the drugs specified on the TPA-Formulary, established pursuant to § 54.1-3223, which shall be limited to oral analgesics included in Schedules III and VI, as defined in §§ 54.1-3450 and 54.1-3455 of the Drug Control Act (§ 54.1-3400 et seq.), when appropriate to relieve ocular pain, and topically applied Schedule VI drugs, as defined in § 54.1-3455 of the Drug Control Act.