BILL NUMBER: SB 616 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 24, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 27, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 26, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 4, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 26, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 22, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator DeSaulnier
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to add Section 805.8 to the Business and Professions
Code, and to amend Section 11165 of the Health and Safety Code,
relating to controlled substances.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 616, as amended, DeSaulnier. Controlled substances: reporting.
Existing law classifies certain controlled substances into
designated schedules. Existing law requires the Department of Justice
to maintain the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and
Evaluation System (CURES) for the electronic monitoring of the
prescribing and dispensing of Schedule II, Schedule III, and Schedule
IV controlled substances by all practitioners authorized to
prescribe or dispense these controlled substances.
Existing law requires dispensing pharmacies and clinics to report,
on a weekly basis, specified information for each prescription of
Schedule II, Schedule III, or Schedule IV controlled substances, to
the department, as specified.
This bill would establish the CURES Fund within the state
treasury State Treasury to receive
contributions funds to be allocated ,
upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the Department of
Justice for the purposes of the funding
CURES program , and would make related
findings and declarations.
This bill would, if insufficient funds exist to cover operational
costs of CURES or a permanent and ongoing funding source is not
identified for CURES, require the Medical Board of California, the
Dental Board of California, the State Board of Pharmacy, the
Veterinary Medical Board, the Board of Registered Nursing, the
Physician Assistant Committee of the Medical Board of California, the
Osteopathic Medical Board of California, the State Board of
Optometry, and the California Board of Podiatric Medicine to increase
the licensure, certification, and renewal fees charged to
practitioners under their supervision who are authorized to prescribe
or dispense controlled substances by up to $10 annually, the
proceeds of which would be continuously appropriated to the
Department of Justice, for support of CURES, as specified.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no yes
. Fiscal committee: no yes .
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) The Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation
System (CURES) is a valuable investigative, preventive, and
educational tool for law enforcement, regulatory boards, educational
researchers, and the health care community. Recent budget cuts to the
Attorney General's Division of Law Enforcement have resulted in
insufficient funding to support the CURES Prescription Drug
Monitoring Program (PDMP). The PDMP is necessary to ensure health
care professionals have the necessary data to make informed treatment
decisions and to allow law enforcement to investigate diversion of
prescription drugs. Without a dedicated funding source, the CURES
PDMP is not sustainable.
(b) Each year the CURES program
responds to more than 60,000 requests from practitioners
and pharmacists regarding all of the following:
(1) Helping identify and deter drug abuse and diversion of
prescription drugs through accurate and rapid tracking of Schedule
II, II, and Schedule III, and Schedule
IV controlled substances.
(2) Helping practitioners make better prescribing decisions.
(3) Helping reduce misuse, abuse, and trafficking of those drugs.
(c) Schedules II, III, and IV, Schedule
II, Schedule III, and Schedule IV controlled substances have
had deleterious effects on private and public interests, including
the misuse, abuse, and trafficking in dangerous prescription
medications resulting in injury and death. It is the intent of the
Legislature to work with stakeholders to fully fund the operation of
the CURES program which seeks
to mitigate those deleterious effects, and which has proven to be a
cost-effective tool to help reduce the misuse, abuse, and trafficking
of those drugs.
SEC. 2. Section 805.8 is added to the
Business and Professions Code , to read:
805.8. (a) If the Attorney General determines that the ability of
regulatory agencies to adequately monitor prescribers and dispensers
of Schedule II, Schedule III, and Schedule IV controlled substances
has been compromised because insufficient funds exist to cover the
operational costs of the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and
Evaluation System (CURES) established by Section 11165 of the Health
and Safety Code, or because a permanent and ongoing funding source
sufficient to cover the operational costs of CURES has not been
implemented by July 1, 2014, the Medical Board of California, the
Dental Board of California, the State Board of Pharmacy, the
Veterinary Medical Board, the Board of Registered Nursing, the
Physician Assistant Committee of the Medical Board of California, the
Osteopathic Medical Board of California, the State Board of
Optometry, and the California Board of Podiatric Medicine, shall
increase the licensure, certification, and renewal fees charged to
practitioners under their supervision who are authorized pursuant to
Section 11150 of the Health and Safety Code to prescribe or dispense
Schedule II, Schedule III, or Schedule IV controlled substances by up
to ten dollars ($10) annually, but in no case shall the fee increase
exceed the reasonable costs associated with maintaining CURES for
the purpose of regulating prescribers and dispensers of controlled
substances licensed or certificated by these boards.
(b) The funds collected pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be
deposited in the CURES accounts, which are hereby created, within the
Contingent Fund of the Medical Board of California, the State
Dentistry Fund, the Pharmacy Board Contingency Fund, the Veterinary
Medical Board Contingent Fund, the Board of Registered Nursing Fund,
the Contingent Fund of the Osteopathic Medical Board of California,
the Optometry Fund, and the Board of Podiatric Medicine Fund. Moneys
in the CURES accounts of each of those funds are, notwithstanding
Section 13340 of the Government Code, continuously appropriated
without regard to fiscal year to the Department of Justice solely for
maintaining CURES for the purposes of regulating prescribers and
dispensers of controlled substances. All moneys received by the
Department of Justice pursuant to this section shall be deposited in
the CURES Fund described in Section 11165 of the Health and Safety
Code.
SEC. 2. SEC. 3. Section 11165 of the
Health and Safety Code is amended to read:
11165. (a) To assist law enforcement and regulatory agencies in
their efforts to control the diversion and resultant abuse of
Schedule II, Schedule III, and Schedule IV controlled substances, and
for statistical analysis, education, and research, the Department of
Justice shall, contingent upon the availability of adequate funds
from in the CURES accounts of the
Contingent Fund of the Medical Board of California, the Pharmacy
Board Contingent Fund, the State Dentistry Fund, the Board of
Registered Nursing Fund, the Osteopathic Medical Board of California
Contingent Fund, the Veterinary Medical Board Contingency Fund,
the Optometry Fund, the Board of Podiatric Medicine Fund, and
the CURES Fund, maintain the Controlled Substance Utilization Review
and Evaluation System (CURES) for the electronic monitoring of, and
Internet access to information regarding, the prescribing and
dispensing of Schedule II, Schedule III, and Schedule IV controlled
substances by all practitioners authorized to prescribe or dispense
these controlled substances.
(b) The reporting of Schedule III and Schedule IV controlled
substance prescriptions to CURES shall be contingent upon the
availability of adequate funds from for
the Department of Justice. The department may seek and use grant
funds to pay the costs incurred from the reporting of controlled
substance prescriptions to CURES. The department shall make
information about the amount and the source of all private grant
funds it receives for support of CURES available to the public.
Funds shall not be appropriated from the Contingent Fund of the
Medical Board of California, the Pharmacy Board Contingent Fund, the
State Dentistry Fund, the Board of Registered Nursing Fund, the
Naturopathic Doctor's Fund, or the Osteopathic Medical Board of
California Contingent Fund to pay the costs of reporting Schedule III
and Schedule IV controlled substance prescriptions to CURES.
(c) CURES shall operate under existing provisions of law to
safeguard the privacy and confidentiality of patients. Data obtained
from CURES shall only be provided to appropriate state, local, and
federal persons or public agencies for disciplinary, civil, or
criminal purposes and to other agencies or entities, as determined by
the Department of Justice, for the purpose of educating
practitioners and others in lieu of disciplinary, civil, or criminal
actions. Data may be provided to public or private entities, as
approved by the Department of Justice, for educational, peer review,
statistical, or research purposes, provided that patient information,
including any information that may identify the patient, is not
compromised. Further, data disclosed to any individual or agency
, as described in this subdivision , shall not be
disclosed, sold, or transferred to any third party.
(d) For each prescription for a Schedule II, Schedule III, or
Schedule IV controlled substance, as defined in the controlled
substances schedules in federal law and regulations, specifically
Sections 1308.12, 1308.13, and 1308.14, respectively, of Title 21 of
the Code of Federal Regulations, the dispensing pharmacy or clinic
shall provide the following information to the Department of Justice
on a weekly basis and in a format specified by the Department of
Justice:
(1) Full name, address, and the telephone
number of the ultimate user or research subject, or contact
information as determined by the Secretary of the United States
Department of Health and Human Services, and the gender, and date of
birth of the ultimate user.
(2) The prescriber's category of licensure and license
number; number, the federal controlled substance
registration number; number, and the
state medical license number of any prescriber using the federal
controlled substance registration number of a government-exempt
facility.
(3) Pharmacy prescription number, license number, and federal
controlled substance registration number.
(4) NDC (National Drug Code) National Drug
Code (NDC) number of the controlled substance
dispensed.
(5) Quantity of the controlled substance dispensed.
(6) ICD-9 (diagnosis code), International
Statistical Classification of Diseases, 9th revision (ICD-9) Code,
if available.
(7) Number of refills ordered.
(8) Whether the drug was dispensed as a refill of a prescription
or as a first-time request.
(9) Date of origin of the prescription.
(10) Date of dispensing of the prescription.
(e) The CURES Fund is hereby established within the State
Treasury. The CURES Fund shall consist of all funds
contributed by organizations made available to the
Department of Justice for the purposes of funding the
CURES program . Money in the CURES Fund
shall, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be available
for allocation notwithstanding Section 13340 of the
Government Code, be continuously appropriated without regard to
fiscal year to the Department of Justice for the purposes of
funding the CURES program .