BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1069
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
1069 (Gordon)
As Amended August 15, 2016
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |80-0 |(June 1, 2015) |SENATE: | 38-0 |(August 18, |
| | | | | |2016) |
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Original Committee Reference: HEALTH
SUMMARY: Authorizes a pharmacy that exists solely to operate
the existing county-operated prescription drug collection and
distribution program (Program) to repackage a reasonable
quantity of donated medicine in anticipation of dispensing the
medicine to its patient population. Requires the pharmacy to
have repackaging policies and procedures in place for
identifying and recalling medications; and requires the
medication that is repackaged to be labeled with the earliest
expiration date.
The Senate amendments narrow the scope of the bill to allow a
pharmacy that participates in the Program to repackage donated
medicine, as specified.
EXISTING LAW: Establishes the Program to distribute surplus
medications to persons in need of financial assistance to ensure
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access to necessary pharmaceutical therapies. Establishes the
California Board of Pharmacy (BOP) to regulate the practice of
pharmacy and enforce the pharmacy law. Authorizes the BOP to
adopt rules and regulations pertaining to establishments wherein
any drug or device is compounded, prepared, furnished, or
dispensed.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS: The author states that when the Program was initially
enacted, it was one of the first in the country and had few
examples to draw from. Now that the voluntary drug repository
and distribution program has been operational in Santa Clara
County for almost five years and has provided enough medications
to fill over 30,000 prescriptions, it has become evident that
improvements are needed to help streamline the program's
operations and help more low-income Californians get the
medicine that they need to stay healthy. Earlier this year,
Santa Clara County opened Better Health Pharmacy, the state's
first pharmacy solely dedicated to collecting and dispensing
unused, donated medication through the county's drug repository
and distribution program. Under current law, participating
entities must repackage medications in a new container prior to
dispensing to a patient, but cannot do this in advance.
Repackaging donated medicine is very time-consuming because most
medicine comes in unit-dose packaging, which means each pill
needs to be individually popped out and placed in a new
container. This currently must be done while the patient waits.
This bill would allow a pharmacy that exists solely to operate
the repository and distribution program, such as Santa Clara
County's Better Health Pharmacy, to repackage the medications in
advance. This is needed to alleviate the time pressure on the
pharmacist, prevent the patient from a needlessly long wait,
improve the program's operations and workload, and ensure that
patients are safe and better served.
Analysis Prepared by: Rosielyn Pulmano /
HEALTH / (916) 319-2097 FN: 0004260
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