BILL NUMBER: AB 399 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bonnie Lowenthal
FEBRUARY 14, 2011
An act to amend Section 5024.2 of the Penal Code, relating to
corrections.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 399, as introduced, Bonnie Lowenthal. Corrections: offender
pharmacies.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation to maintain and operate a comprehensive pharmacy
services program for those facilities under the jurisdiction of the
department that may incorporate specified features, including a
statewide pharmacy administration system with direct authority and
responsibility for program administration and oversight, and a
multidisciplinary, statewide Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee with
specified responsibilities.
This bill would, instead, require a comprehensive pharmacy
services program to incorporate those specified features.
Existing law authorizes the department to operate and maintain a
centralized pharmacy distribution center and states that the
centralized pharmacy distribution center and institutional pharmacies
should be licensed as pharmacies by the California State Board of
Pharmacy and should meet all applicable regulations applying to a
pharmacy.
This bill would, instead, require that the centralized pharmacy
distribution center and institutional pharmacies be licensed as
pharmacies by the California State Board of Pharmacy and meet all
applicable regulations applying to a pharmacy.
Existing law states that the centralized pharmacy distribution
center should maintain a system of quality control checks on each
process used to package, label, and distribute medications, and that
the department should ensure that there is a program providing for
the regular inspection of all department pharmacies in the state to
verify compliance with applicable laws, rules, regulations, and other
standards as may be appropriate to ensure the health, safety, and
welfare of the department's inmate patients.
This bill would, instead, require the centralized pharmacy
distribution center to maintain a system of quality control checks on
each process used to package, label, and distribute medications, and
would require the department to ensure that there is a program
providing for the regular inspection of all department pharmacies in
the state to verify compliance with applicable laws, rules,
regulations, and other standards as may be appropriate to ensure the
health, safety, and welfare of the department's inmate patients.
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 5024.2 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
5024.2. (a) The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is
authorized to maintain and operate a comprehensive pharmacy services
program for those facilities under the jurisdiction of the department
that is both cost effective and efficient, and may
that program shall incorporate all of
the following:
(1) A statewide pharmacy administration system with direct
authority and responsibility for program administration and
oversight.
(2) Medically necessary pharmacy services using professionally and
legally qualified pharmacists, consistent with the size and the
scope of medical services provided.
(3) Written procedures and operational practices pertaining to the
delivery of pharmaceutical services.
(4) A multidisciplinary, statewide Pharmacy and Therapeutics
Committee responsible for all of the following:
(A) Developing and managing a department formulary.
(B) Standardizing the strengths and dosage forms for medications
used in department facilities.
(C) Maintaining and monitoring a system for the review and
evaluation of corrective actions related to errors in prescribing,
dispensing, and administering medications.
(D) Conducting regular therapeutic category reviews for
medications listed in the department formulary.
(E) Evaluating medication therapies and providing input to the
development of disease management guidelines used in the department.
(5) A requirement for the use of generic medications, when
available, unless an exception is reviewed and approved in accordance
with an established nonformulary approval process.
(6) Use of an enterprise-based pharmacy operating system that
provides management with information on prescription workloads,
medication utilization, prescribing data, and other key pharmacy
information.
(b) The department is authorized to operate and maintain a
centralized pharmacy distribution center to provide advantages of
scale and efficiencies related to medication purchasing, inventory
control, volume production, drug distribution, workforce utilization,
and increased patient safety. It is the intent of the
Legislature that the The centralized pharmacy
distribution center and institutional pharmacies shall be
licensed as pharmacies by the California State Board of Pharmacy
meeting and shall meet all applicable
regulations applying to a pharmacy.
(1) To the extent it is cost effective and efficient, the
centralized pharmacy distribution center should include systems to do
the following:
(A) Order and package bulk pharmaceuticals and prescription and
stock orders for all department correctional facilities.
(B) Label medications as required to meet state and federal
prescription requirements.
(C) Provide barcode validation matching the drug to the specific
prescription or floor stock order.
(D) Sort completed orders for shipping and delivery to department
facilities.
(2) Notwithstanding any other requirements, the department
centralized pharmacy distribution center is authorized to do the
following:
(A) Package bulk pharmaceuticals into both floor stock and
patient-specific packs.
(B) Reclaim, for reissue, unused and unexpired medications.
(C) Distribute the packaged products to department facilities for
use within the state corrections system.
(3) The centralized pharmacy distribution center should
shall maintain a system of quality control
checks on each process used to package, label, and distribute
medications. The quality control system may include a regular process
of random checks by a licensed pharmacist.
(c) The department may investigate and initiate potential
systematic improvements in order to provide for the safe and
efficient distribution and control of, and accountability for, drugs
within the department's statewide pharmacy administration system,
taking into account factors unique to the correctional environment.
(d) The department should shall
ensure that there is a program providing for the regular inspection
of all department pharmacies in the state to verify compliance with
applicable law, rules, regulations, and other standards as may be
appropriate to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of the
department's inmate patients.
(e) On March 1, 2012, and each March 1 thereafter, the department
shall report all of the following to the Joint Legislative Budget
Committee, the Senate Committee on Appropriations, the Senate
Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, the Senate Committee on
Health, the Senate Committee on Public Safety, the Assembly Committee
on Appropriations, the Assembly Committee on Budget, the Assembly
Committee on Health, and the Assembly Committee on Public Safety:
(1) The extent to which the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee
has been established and achieved the objectives set forth in this
section, as well as the most significant reasons for achieving or not
achieving those objectives.
(2) The extent to which the department is achieving the objective
of operating a fully functioning and centralized pharmacy
distribution center, as set forth in this section, that distributes
pharmaceuticals to every adult prison under the jurisdiction of the
department, as well as the most significant reasons for achieving or
not achieving that objective.
(3) The extent to which the centralized pharmacy distribution
center is achieving cost savings through improved efficiency and
distribution of unit dose medications.
(4) A description of planned or implemented initiatives to
accomplish the next 12 months' objectives for achieving the goals set
forth in this section, including a fully functioning and centralized
pharmacy distribution center that distributes pharmaceuticals to
every adult facility under the jurisdiction of the department.
(5) The costs for prescription pharmaceuticals for the previous
fiscal year, both statewide and at each adult prison under the
jurisdiction of the department, and a comparison of these costs with
those of the prior fiscal year.
(f) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under
subdivision (e) is inoperative on March 1, 2016, pursuant to Section
10231.5 of the Government Code.