Amended in Assembly April 13, 2015

Amended in Assembly March 24, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 611

Introduced by Assembly Member Dahle

February 24, 2015

An act to amend Section 11165.1 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to controlled substances.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 611, as amended, 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. Existing law authorizes an application to be denied, or a subscriber to be suspended, for specified reasons, including, among others, a subscriber accessing information for any reason other than caring for his or her patients.

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. The bill would clarify that only a subscriber who is a health care practitioner or a pharmacist may have an application denied or be suspended for accessing subscriber information for any reason other than caring for his or her patients. The bill would also specify that an application may be denied, or a subscriber may be suspended, if a subscriber who has been designated to investigate the holder of a professional license accesses information for any reason other than investigating the holder of a professional license.

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 11165.1 of the Health and Safety Code
is amended to read:

11165.1.  

(a) (1) (A) (i) A health care practitioner authorized
to prescribe, order, administer, furnish, or dispense Schedule II,
Schedule III, or Schedule IV controlled substances pursuant to
Section 11150 shall, before January 1, 2016, or upon receipt of a
federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registration,
whichever occurs later, submit an application developed by the
Department of Justice to obtain approval to access information
online regarding the controlled substance history of a patient that
is stored on the Internet and maintained within the Department of
Justice, and, upon approval, the department shall release to that
practitioner the electronic history of controlled substances
dispensed to an individual under his or her care based on data
contained in the CURES Prescription Drug Monitoring Program
(PDMP).

(ii) A pharmacist shall, before January 1, 2016, or upon
licensure, whichever occurs later, submit an application developed
by the Department of Justice to obtain approval to access
information online regarding the controlled substance history of
a patient that is stored on the Internet and maintained within the
Department of Justice, and, upon approval, the department shall
release to that pharmacist the electronic history of controlled
substances dispensed to an individual under his or her care based
on data contained in the CURES PDMP.

(iii) An individual designated by a board, bureau, or program
within the Department of Consumer Affairs to investigate a holder
of a professional license may, for the purpose of investigating the
alleged substance abuse of a licensee, submit an application
developed by the Department of Justice to obtain approval to access
information online regarding the controlled substance history of
a licensee that is stored on the Internet and maintained within the
Department of Justice, and, upon approval, the department shall
release to that individual the electronic history of controlled
substances dispensed to the licensee based on data contained in
the CURES PDMP. begin delete The application end delete begin insert An application for an
individual designated by a board, bureau, or program that does
not regulate health care practitioners authorized to prescribe,
order, administer, furnish, or dispense Schedule II, Schedule III,
or Schedule IV controlled substances pursuant to Section 11150 end insert
shall contain facts demonstrating the probable cause to believe the
licensee has violated a law governing controlled substances.

(B) An application may be denied, or a subscriber may be
suspended, for reasons which include, but are not limited to, the
following:

(i) Materially falsifying an application for a subscriber.

(ii) Failure to maintain effective controls for access to the patient
activity report.

(iii) Suspended or revoked federal DEA registration.

(iv) Any subscriber who is arrested for a violation of law
governing controlled substances or any other law for which the
possession or use of a controlled substance is an element of the
crime.

(v) Any subscriber described in clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph
(A) accessing information for any other reason than caring for his
or her patients.

(vi) Any subscriber described in clause (iii) of subparagraph
(A) accessing information for any other reason than investigating
the holder of a professional license.

(C) Any authorized subscriber shall notify the Department of
Justice within 30 days of any changes to the subscriber account.

(2) A health care practitioner authorized to prescribe, order,
administer, furnish, or dispense Schedule II, Schedule III, or
Schedule IV controlled substances pursuant to Section 11150 or
a pharmacist shall be deemed to have complied with paragraph
(1) if the licensed health care practitioner or pharmacist has been
approved to access the CURES database through the process
developed pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 209 of the
Business and Professions Code.

(b) Any request for, or release of, a controlled substance history
pursuant to this section shall be made in accordance with guidelines
developed by the Department of Justice.

(c) In order to prevent the inappropriate, improper, or illegal
use of Schedule II, Schedule III, or Schedule IV controlled
substances, the Department of Justice may initiate the referral of
the history of controlled substances dispensed to an individual
based on data contained in CURES to licensed health care
practitioners, pharmacists, or both, providing care or services to
the individual.

(d) The history of controlled substances dispensed to an
individual based on data contained in CURES that is received by
an authorized subscriber from the Department of Justice pursuant
to this section shall be considered medical information subject to
the provisions of the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act
contained in Part 2.6 (commencing with Section 56) of Division
1 of the Civil Code.

(e) Information concerning a patient’s controlled substance
history provided to an authorized subscriber pursuant to this section
shall include prescriptions for controlled substances listed in
Sections 1308.12, 1308.13, and 1308.14 of Title 21 of the Code
of Federal Regulations.