BILL NUMBER: SB 1301	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  MARCH 29, 2012

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Hernandez
   (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Mitchell)
   (Coauthor: Senator Emmerson)

                        FEBRUARY 23, 2012

   An act to add Section 4064.5 to the Business and Professions Code,
relating to pharmacy.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1301, as amended, Hernandez. Prescription drugs: 90-day supply.

   Existing law, the Pharmacy Law, provides for the licensure and
regulation of the practice of pharmacy by the California State Board
of Pharmacy. Existing law prohibits a person from furnishing a
dangerous drug except upon the prescription of specified
practitioners, except as specified. Existing law authorizes a
pharmacist filling a prescription order for a drug product to
substitute a generic drug product or a drug product with a different
form of medication having the same active chemical ingredients of
equivalent strength and duration of therapy as the prescribed drug
product, subject to specified requirements. Existing law also
authorizes a pharmacist to refill a prescription for a dangerous drug
without the prescriber's authorization under specified
circumstances.
   This bill would authorize a pharmacist to dispense up to a 90-day
supply of a dangerous drug other than a controlled substance pursuant
to a valid prescription if the pharmacist is exercising his or her
professional judgment, he or she dispenses no more than the total
amount prescribed, including refills, and the prescriber has not
specified on the prescription that dispensing the prescription in an
initial amount followed by periodic refills is medically necessary.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 4064.5 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
   4064.5.   (a)    A pharmacist may dispense up to
a 90-day supply of a dangerous drug other than a controlled
substance pursuant to a valid prescription that specifies the initial
dispensing of a lesser amount followed by periodic refills of that
amount if all of the following requirements are satisfied: 
   (a) 
    (1)  The total quantity of dosage units dispensed does
not exceed the total quantity of dosage units authorized by the
prescriber on the prescription, including refills. 
   (b) 
    (2)  The prescriber has not specified on the
prescription that dispensing the prescription in an initial amount
followed by periodic refills is medically necessary. 
   (c) 
    (3)  The pharmacist is exercising his or her
professional judgment. 
   (b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a health
care service plan, health insurer, workers' compensation insurance
plan, pharmacy benefits manager, or any other person or entity,
including, but not limited to, a state program or state employer, to
provide coverage for a dangerous drug in a manner inconsistent with a
beneficiary's plan benefit.