BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1029
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1029 (Yee)
As Amended June 23, 2010
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :21-8
HEALTH 12-6 BUSINESS & PROFESSIONS 6-2
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|Ayes:|Monning, Ammiano, Carter, |Ayes:|Hayashi, Eng, Hernandez, |
| | | |Hill, Ma, Ruskin |
| |De La Torre, De Leon, | | |
| |Eng, Hayashi, Hernandez, | | |
| |Jones, Bonnie Lowenthal, | | |
| |V. Manuel Perez, Salas | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Fletcher, Conway, Gaines, |Nays:|Conway, Smyth |
| |Smyth, Audra Strickland, | | |
| |Gilmore | | |
| | | | |
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APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Fuentes, Bradford, |
| |Charles Calderon, Coto, |
| |Davis, De Leon, Gatto, |
| |Hall, Skinner, Solorio, |
| |Torlakson, Torrico |
| | |
|-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Conway, Harkey, Miller, |
| |Nielsen, Norby |
| | |
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SUMMARY : Repeals the Disease Prevention Demonstration Project
(DPDP) in existing law. Permits pharmacists and physicians to
distribute to individuals, and individuals to receive, up to 30
needles without a prescription solely for personal use, as
specified. Specifically, this bill :
1)Repeals the DPDP in existing law. Permits pharmacists and
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physicians to furnish hypodermic needles and syringes for
human use, without a prescription, if the person is known to
the furnisher and the furnisher has previously been provided a
prescription or other proof of a legitimate medical need
requiring a hypodermic needle or syringe to administer a
medicine or treatment.
2)Permits pharmacists and physicians to distribute to
individuals, and individuals to obtain, as a public health
measure, as specified, up to 30 needles without a prescription
solely for personal use until December 31, 2018.
3)Requires pharmacies to store hypodermic needles and syringes
in a manner that ensures that they are available only to
authorized personnel, and are not accessible to other persons.
4)Requires pharmacies that furnish nonprescription hypodermic
needles and syringes to provide consumers with one or more of
the following disposal options:
a) An onsite, safe, hypodermic needle and syringe
collection and disposal program;
b) Mail-back sharps disposal containers authorized by the
United States Postal Service that meet applicable state and
federal requirements, and that provide tracking forms to
verify destruction at a certified disposal facility; and,
c) A personal medical sharps disposal container that meets
applicable state and federal standards for disposal of
medical sharps waste.
5)Requires pharmacies that furnish nonprescription syringes to
provide written information or verbal counseling to consumers
at the time of furnishing or sale of nonprescription
hypodermic needles or syringes on how to access drug treatment
and testing and treatment for HIV and hepatitis C, and how to
safely dispose of sharps waste.
6)Requires the Department of Public Health (DPH) Office of AIDS
to develop and maintain specified information regarding HIV
and hepatitis testing and treatment, safe needle disposal, and
drug treatment on its Internet Web site. Requires the
California State Board of Pharmacy to also post, or maintain a
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link to, that information on its Internet Web site.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, absorbable workload to DPH Office of AIDS and the
California Board of Pharmacy to provide specified information on
their websites and to continue oversight of the sale and
disposal of needles and syringes.
COMMENTS : According to the DPH Office of AIDS, in 2009
injection drug use (IDU) was associated with 19% of the 190,000
reported HIV/AIDS cases, and it is estimated that approximately
750 new HIV infections may be attributed to IDU each year. The
link between IDU and HIV transmission is particularly strong for
women and minorities. It is also estimated that at least 60% of
prevalent cases of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are
associated with IDU. In 2008, 36 acute HCV infections and
69,519 unique chronic HCV cases were reported in California, and
HCV-related deaths in the state more than doubled from 503 in
1995 to 1,195 in 2004.
Public health experts, including the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, have identified access to sterile syringes as
one component of a comprehensive HIV prevention strategy
designed to reduce HIV transmission among IDUs. In the last 10
years, a number of national organizations have endorsed
deregulation to allow IDUs to purchase and posses syringes and
needles without a prescription, including the American Medical
Association, the American Pharmaceutical Association, the
National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, the National
Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors, and the
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
SB 1159 (Vasconcellos), Chapter 608, Statutes of 2004,
establishes a five-year DPDP pilot program to allow California
pharmacies, when authorized by a local government, to sell up to
10 syringes to adults without a prescription. According to the
DPH Office of AIDS, 15 counties and four cities in California
have authorized a DPDP (counties: Alameda, Contra Costa,
Humboldt, Los Angeles, Marin, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo,
San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano,
Sonoma, Yolo, and Yuba; cities: Long Beach, Los Angeles,
Sacramento, and West Hollywood). Two other counties are
currently considering or planning to implement the program, and
four County Boards of Supervisors have rejected authorization of
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a DPDP. According to DPH, in 2005, the first wave of local
health jurisdictions (LHJs) and pharmacies in California began
to authorize and implement local DPDPs. By the end of 2007, 532
pharmacies in 17 LHJs registered to participate in the program.
Among the LHJs not planning to authorize DPDP, the top four
reasons were: limited time (38%) or interest (31%), pharmacy
disinterest (29%), and law enforcement opposition (22%). While
the proportion of LHJs that authorized a DPDP is relatively
small, those that have implemented one are home to 70% of
Californians currently living with HIV/AIDS.
Analyses of HIV counseling and testing data found that reported
use of pharmacies as a source for sterile syringes increased
significantly in early adopting counties from 2004-2006: Sonoma
(2.9% vs. 28.8%), Los Angeles (6.5% vs. 21.3%), Contra Costa
(1.5% vs. 16.2%), San Francisco (1.9% vs. 13.5%), and Alameda
(1.5% vs. 5.3%). Syringe sharing levels among IDUs attending
HIV counseling and testing sites were consistently lower in LHJs
that had authorized the sale of syringes without a prescription
than sharing levels in LHJs that had not. While these
differences in syringe sharing levels cannot be solely
attributed to the DPDP, from a public health perspective it is
another indication that enhanced syringe access can help reduce
injection-associated risks.
Analysis Prepared by : Melanie Moreno / HEALTH / (916)
319-2097
FN: 0005607