AB 611, as introduced, Dahle. Controlled substances: prescriptions: reporting.
Existing law requires certain health care practitioners and pharmacists to apply to the Department of Justice to obtain approval to access information contained in the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES) Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) regarding the controlled substance history of a patient under his or her care. Existing law requires the Department of Justice, upon approval of an application, to provide the approved health care practitioner or pharmacist the history of controlled substances dispensed to an individual under his or her care.
This bill would also authorize an individual designated to investigate a holder of a professional license to apply to the Department of Justice to obtain approval to access information contained in the CURES PDMP regarding the controlled substance history of an applicant or a licensee for the purpose of investigating the alleged substance abuse of a licensee. The bill would, upon approval of an application, require the department to provide to the approved individual the history of controlled substances dispensed to the licensee.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 11165.1 of the Health and Safety Code
2 is amended to read:
(a) (1) (A) (i) A health care practitioner authorized
4to prescribe, order, administer, furnish, or dispense Schedule II,
5Schedule III, or Schedule IV controlled substances pursuant to
6Section 11150 shall, before January 1, 2016, or upon receipt of a
7federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registration,
8whichever occurs later, submit an application developed by the
9Department of Justice to obtain approval to access information
10online regarding the controlled substance history of a patient that
11is stored on the Internet and maintained within the Department of
12Justice, and, upon approval, the department shall release to that
13practitioner the electronic history of controlled substances
14dispensed to an individual under his or her care based on data
15contained in the CURES Prescription Drug
Monitoring Program
16(PDMP).
17(ii) A pharmacist shall, before January 1, 2016, or upon
18licensure, whichever occurs later, submit an application developed
19by the Department of Justice to obtain approval to access
20information online regarding the controlled substance history of
21a patient that is stored on the Internet and maintained within the
22Department of Justice, and, upon approval, the department shall
23release to that pharmacist the electronic history of controlled
24substances dispensed to an individual under his or her care based
25on data contained in the CURES PDMP.
26(iii) An individual designated by a board, bureau, or program
27within the Department of Consumer Affairs to investigate a holder
28of a professional license may, for the purpose of investigating the
29alleged substance abuse of a licensee, submit an application
30developed by the Department of Justice to obtain
approval to
31access information online regarding the controlled substance
32history of a licensee that is stored on the Internet and maintained
33within the Department of Justice, and, upon approval, the
34department shall release to that individual the electronic history
35of controlled substances dispensed to the licensee based on data
36contained in the CURES PDMP. The application shall contain
37facts demonstrating the probable cause to believe the licensee has
38violated a law governing controlled substances.
P3 1(B) An application may be denied, or a subscriber may be
2suspended, for reasons which include, but are not limited to, the
3following:
4(i) Materially falsifying an application for a subscriber.
5(ii) Failure to maintain effective controls for access to the patient
6activity report.
7(iii) Suspended or revoked federal DEA registration.
8(iv) Any subscriber
who is arrested for a violation of law
9governing controlled substances or any other law for which the
10possession or use of a controlled substance is an element of the
11crime.
12(v) Any subscriber accessing information for any other reason
13than caring for his or her patients.
14(C) Any authorized subscriber shall notify the Department of
15Justice within 30 days of any changes to the subscriber account.
16(2) A health care practitioner authorized to prescribe, order,
17administer, furnish, or dispense Schedule II, Schedule III, or
18Schedule IV controlled substances pursuant to Section 11150 or
19a pharmacist shall be deemed to have complied with paragraph
20(1) if the licensed health care practitioner or pharmacist has been
21approved to access the CURES database through the process
22developed pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 209 of the
23Business and Professions Code.
24(b) Any request for, or release of, a
controlled substance history
25pursuant to this section shall be made in accordance with guidelines
26developed by the Department of Justice.
27(c) In order to prevent the inappropriate, improper, or illegal
28use of Schedule II, Schedule III, or Schedule IV controlled
29substances, the Department of Justice may initiate the referral of
30the history of controlled substances dispensed to an individual
31based on data contained in CURES to licensed health care
32practitioners, pharmacists, or both, providing care or services to
33the individual.
34(d) The history of controlled substances dispensed to an
35individual based on data contained in CURES that is received by
36begin delete a practitioner or pharmacistend deletebegin insert end insertbegin insertan
authorized subscriberend insert from the
37Department of Justice pursuant to this section shall be considered
38medical information subject to the provisions of the Confidentiality
39of Medical Information Act contained in Part 2.6 (commencing
40with Section 56) of Division 1 of the Civil Code.
P4 1(e) Information concerning a patient’s controlled substance
2history provided tobegin delete a prescriber or pharmacistend deletebegin insert an authorized
3subscriberend insert pursuant to this section shall include prescriptions for
4controlled substances listed in Sections 1308.12, 1308.13, and
51308.14 of Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
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