BILL NUMBER: AB 2018 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 29, 2000
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 15, 2000
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 3, 2000
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 5, 2000
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Thomson, Runner, and Migden
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Aanestad, Aroner, Bates, Cardenas,
Cox, Honda, Kuehl, Strom-Martin, and Zettel)
(Coauthors: Senators Bowen and Johannessen)
FEBRUARY 18, 2000
An act to amend Section 11165 of, to amend and repeal
Sections 11159.2, 11161, 11162, 11162.5, 11163, 11168, and 11169 of,
and to amend, repeal, and add Sections 11158, 11164, 11167, and
11167.5 An act to amend Sections 11161, 11164, 11165,
and 11167 of, and to repeal Section 11163 of, the Health and
Safety Code, relating to controlled substances.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2018, as amended, Thomson. Controlled substances: Schedule
II: triplicate prescription.
(1) Existing law provides that no person shall prescribe a
controlled substance, nor shall any person fill, compound, or
dispense such a prescription unless it complies with specified
requirements, one of which is that prescriptions for Schedule II
controlled substances shall be prepared in triplicate. The
Department of Justice is required to issue these triplicate
prescriptions in serially numbered groups of not more than 100
forms to any practitioner authorized to write a prescription
for Schedule II controlled substances. Existing law also
imposes specified printing and distribution requirements on
prescription blanks, provides that it is a crime to counterfeit or
knowingly possess official prescription blanks, limits the
number of prescription blank groups issued to an individual
prescriber by the Department of Justice , requires the
retention of a prescriber's prescription book for 3 years, and
provides that, subject to a specified alternate procedure and related
requirements, a prescription for a Schedule II drug for use by a
terminally ill patient is exempt from specified reporting
requirements .
This bill would , as of January 1, 2003, eliminate the
triplicate prescription requirement for Schedule II controlled
substances, make conforming changes to related provisions, and as of
that date repeal specified printing and revise the
distribution requirements applicable to prescription blanks for
Schedule II and other drugs, provisions making it a crime
to counterfeit or knowingly possess prescription blanks, the 3-year
recordkeeping requirement described above, and the alternate Schedule
II prescribing procedure applicable to terminally ill patients
and would revise the information required in a
prescription for a Schedule II controlled substance. The bill would
authorize a pharmacist to fill a prescription for a controlled
substance classified in Schedule II containing an error or errors,
provided the pharmacist notifies the prescriber of the error or
errors and the prescriber approves any correction. The prescriber
would be required to fax or mail a corrected prescription to the
pharmacist within 7 days of the prescription being dispensed .
(2) Existing law provides for the electronic monitoring of the
prescribing and dispensing of Schedule II controlled substances
pursuant to the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and
Evaluation System (CURES) program, as specified. The program is
scheduled to become inoperative on July 1, 2003.
This bill would continue the CURES program indefinitely
by repealing its repeal date . if the
Attorney General determines, and provides timely written notification
to the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature of that
determination, that the CURES program should be continued on and
after July 1, 2003, as specified. The bill would provide that if the
CURES program continues on and after July 1, 2003, the requirement
that a prescription for a Schedule II controlled substance shall be
written on a triplicate prescription shall terminate on July 1, 2003,
and a prescription for a Schedule II controlled substance shall
instead meet the requirements existing for controlled substances in
Schedules III, IV, and V.
(3) Existing law provides that, subject to specified requirements,
an order for a Schedule II controlled substance may be dispensed on
an oral, written, or electronic data transmission order in an
emergency where failure to issue a prescription may result in loss of
life or intense suffering.
This bill would also permit a Schedule II controlled substance to
be dispensed on an oral, written, or electronic data transmission
order in an emergency situation as defined in a provision of federal
law.
(4) Existing law provides that in general a violation of any of
the provisions relating to the prescription of controlled substances
and to the CURES program is a misdemeanor. By creating new crimes
and extending the operation of criminal provisions, this bill would
impose a state-mandated local program on local government.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 11158 of the Health and Safety
SECTION 1. Section 11161 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
11161. (a) Prescription blanks shall be issued by the Department
of Justice in serially numbered groups of not more than 100 forms
each in triplicate unless a practitioner orally, electronically,
or in writing requests a larger amount , and shall be
furnished to any practitioner authorized to write a prescription for
controlled substances classified in Schedule II. The Department of
Justice may charge a fee for the prescription blanks sufficient to
reimburse the department for the actual costs associated with the
preparation, processing, and filing of any forms issued pursuant to
this section. The prescription blanks shall not be transferable.
The Department of Justice shall not, during any 30-day
period, issue more than 100 triplicate prescription blanks to any
authorized practitioner, until written justification has been
received and approved by the Department of Justice. Any
person possessing a triplicate prescription blank otherwise than as
provided in this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(b) When a practitioner is named in a warrant of arrest or is
charged in an accusatory pleading with a felony violation of Section
11153, 11154, 11156, 11157, 11170, 11173, 11350, 11351, 11352, 11353,
11353.5, 11377, 11378, 11378.5, 11379, 11379.5, or 11379.6, the
court in which the accusatory pleading is filed or the magistrate who
issued the warrant of arrest shall, upon the motion of a law
enforcement agency which is supported by reasonable cause, issue an
order which requires the practitioner to surrender to the clerk of
the court all triplicate prescription blanks in the practitioner's
possession at a time set in the order and shall direct the Department
of Justice to withhold prescription blanks from the practitioner.
The law enforcement agency obtaining the order shall notify the
Department of Justice of this order. Except as provided in
subdivisions (c) and (f) of this section, the order shall remain in
effect until further order of the court. Any practitioner possessing
prescription blanks in violation of the order is guilty of a
misdemeanor.
(c) The order provided by subdivision (b) shall be vacated if the
court or magistrate finds that the underlying violation or violations
are not supported by reasonable cause at a hearing held within two
court days after the practitioner files and personally serves upon
the prosecuting attorney and the law enforcement agency that obtained
the order, a notice of motion to vacate the order with any
affidavits on which the practitioner relies. At the hearing, the
burden of proof, by a preponderance of the evidence, is on the
prosecution. Evidence presented at the hearing shall be limited to
the warrant of arrest with supporting affidavits, the motion to
require the defendant to surrender all triplicate prescription blanks
with supporting affidavits, the sworn complaint together with any
documents or reports incorporated by reference thereto which, if
based on information and belief, state the basis for the information,
or any other documents of similar reliability as well as affidavits
and counter affidavits submitted by the prosecution and defense.
Granting of the motion to vacate the order is no bar to prosecution
of the alleged violation or violations.
(d) The defendant may elect to challenge the order issued under
subdivision (b) at the preliminary examination. At that hearing, the
evidence shall be limited to that set forth in subdivision (c) and
any other evidence otherwise admissible at the preliminary
examination.
(e) If the practitioner has not moved to vacate the order issued
under subdivision (b) by the time of the preliminary examination and
he or she is held to answer on the underlying violation or
violations, the practitioner shall be precluded from afterwards
moving to vacate the order. If the defendant is not held to answer
on the underlying charge or charges at the conclusion of the
preliminary examination, the order issued under subdivision (b) shall
be vacated.
(f) Notwithstanding subdivision (e), any practitioner who is
diverted pursuant to Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 1000) of
Title 7 of Part 2 of the Penal Code may file a motion to vacate the
order issued under subdivision (b).
SEC. 2. Section 11163 of the Health and Safety Code is repealed.
11163. Not more than one such prescription group shall in any
case be issued or furnished by the Department of Justice to the same
prescriber at one time.
SEC. 3. Section 11164 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
11164. Except as provided in Section 11167, no person shall
prescribe a controlled substance, nor shall any person fill,
compound, or dispense such a prescription unless it complies with the
requirements of this section.
(a) Each The signature on each
prescription for a controlled substance classified in Schedule II
shall be wholly written in ink or indelible pencil in the handwriting
of the prescriber upon the official prescription form issued by the
Department of Justice. Each prescription shall be prepared in
triplicate, signed , and dated by the prescriber,
and shall contain , either typewritten or handwritten by the
physician or his or her employee, the date, name
, and address of the person for whom the controlled
substance is prescribed, the name, quantity, and strength of the
controlled substance prescribed, directions for use, and the address,
category of professional licensure, and the federal controlled
substance registration number of the prescriber. The original and
duplicate of the prescription shall be delivered to the pharmacist
filling the prescription. The duplicate shall be retained by the
pharmacist and the original, properly endorsed by the pharmacist with
the name and address of the pharmacy, the pharmacy's state license
number, the date the prescription was filled and the signature of the
pharmacist, shall be transmitted to the Department of Justice at the
end of the month in which the prescription was filled. Upon receipt
of an incompletely prepared official prescription form of the
Department of Justice, the pharmacist may enter on the face of the
prescription the address of the patient. A pharmacist may fill
a prescription for a controlled substance classified in Schedule II
containing an error or errors, if the pharmacist notifies the
prescriber of the error or errors and the prescriber approves any
correction. The prescriber shall fax or mail a corrected
prescription to the pharmacist within seven days of the prescription
being dispensed.
(b) Each prescription for a controlled substance classified in
Schedule III, IV, or V, except as authorized by subdivision (c),
shall be subject to the following requirements:
(1) The prescription shall be signed and dated by the prescriber
and shall contain the name of the person for whom the controlled
substance is prescribed, the name and quantity of the controlled
substance prescribed, and directions for use. With respect to
prescriptions for controlled substances classified in Schedules III
and IV, the signature, date, and information required by this
paragraph shall be wholly written in ink or indelible pencil in the
handwriting of the prescriber.
(2) In addition, the prescription shall contain the name, address,
telephone number, category of professional licensure, and federal
controlled substance registration number of the prescriber. The
information required by this paragraph shall be either preprinted
upon the prescription blank, typewritten, rubber stamped, or printed
by hand. Notwithstanding any provision in this section, the
prescriber's address, telephone number, category of professional
licensure, or federal controlled substances registration number need
not appear on the prescription if that information is readily
retrievable in the pharmacy.
(3) The prescription shall also contain the address of the person
for whom the controlled substance is prescribed. If the prescriber
does not specify this address on the prescription, the pharmacist
filling the prescription or an employee acting under the direction of
the pharmacist shall write or type the address on the prescription
or maintain this information in a readily retrievable form in the
pharmacy.
(c) Any controlled substance classified in Schedule III, IV, or V
may be dispensed upon an oral or electronically transmitted
prescription, which shall be reduced to writing by the pharmacist
filling the prescription or by any other person expressly authorized
by provisions of the Business and Professions Code. The date of
issue of the prescription and all the information required for a
written prescription by subdivision (b) shall be included in the
written record of the prescription. The pharmacist need not reduce
to writing the address, telephone number, license classification, or
federal registry number of the prescriber or the address of the
patient if that information is readily retrievable in the pharmacy.
Pursuant to authorization of the prescriber, any employee of the
prescriber on behalf of the prescriber may orally or electronically
transmit a prescription for a controlled substance classified in
Schedule III, IV, or V, if in these cases the written record of the
prescription required by this subdivision specifies the name of the
employee of the prescriber transmitting the prescription.
(d) The use of commonly used abbreviations shall not invalidate an
otherwise valid prescription.
(e) Notwithstanding any provision of subdivisions (b) and (c),
prescriptions for a controlled substance classified in Schedule V may
be for more than one person in the same family with the same medical
need.
(f) In addition to the prescriber's record required by Section
11190, any practitioner dispensing a controlled substance classified
in Schedule II in accordance with subdivision (b) of Section 11158
shall prepare a written record thereof on the official forms issued
by the Department of Justice, pursuant to Section 11161, and shall
transmit the original to the Department of Justice in accordance with
any rules that the department may adopt for completion and
transmittal of the forms.
SEC. 4. 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 controlled substances, and for statistical analysis,
education, and research, the Department of Justice shall, contingent
upon the availability of adequate funds, establish the Controlled
Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES) for the
electronic monitoring of the prescribing and dispensing of Schedule
II controlled substances by all practitioners authorized to prescribe
or dispense these controlled substances. CURES shall be implemented
as a pilot project, commencing on July 1, 1997, to be administered
concurrently with the existing triplicate prescription process, to
examine the comparative efficiencies between the two systems.
(b) The CURES pilot project 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.
(c) The Department of Justice, in consultation with the Board of
Pharmacy, shall submit a report to the Legislature by January 1,
1999, with annual updates also due January 1, 2000, 2001, and 2002,
on the CURES pilot project. Specifically, these reports shall assess
the ability of CURES to provide complete, accurate, and timely data
on Schedule II controlled substances prescribed and dispensed in
California, the effectiveness of this information in investigating
and prosecuting individuals suspected of diversion activities, and
the feasibility of replacing the current triple-copy prescription
form with a single-copy serialized prescription form to reduce
existing administrative burdens. Further, the report shall make
recommendations regarding the replacement of the existing triplicate
prescription process with CURES, and funding alternatives for ongoing
system support.
(d) The sum of one million fifty thousand dollars ($1,050,000) is
hereby appropriated from the Pharmacy Board Contingent Fund to the
Board of Pharmacy for the purpose of entering into an interagency
agreement with the Department of Justice for the implementation,
operation, and evaluation of CURES.
(e) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2003, and, as
of January 1, 2004, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2004, deletes or
extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.
(d) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2003, and as
of January 1, 2004, is repealed, unless the Attorney General
determines, and provides timely written notification to the
appropriate policy committees of the Legislature of that
determination, that the CURES program should be continued on and
after July 1, 2003, on the basis that the CURES program provides more
timely data.
(e) If this section remains in effect on and after July 1, 2003,
the requirement that a prescription for a Schedule II controlled
substance shall be written on a triplicate prescription, as set forth
in subdivision (a) of Section 11164, shall terminate on July 1,
2003, and a prescription for a Schedule II controlled substance shall
instead meet the requirements of subdivision (b) of Section 11164.
SEC. 5. Section 11167 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
11167. Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 11164, in an
emergency where failure to issue a prescription may result in loss of
life or intense suffering or in an emergency situation as
defined in Section 290.10 of Title 21 of the Code of Federal
Regulations , an order for a Schedule II controlled substance
may be dispensed on an oral, written, or electronic data transmission
order, subject to all of the following requirements:
(a) The order contains all information required by subdivision (a)
of Section 11164.
(b) Any written order is signed and dated by the prescriber in
indelible pencil or ink, and the pharmacy reduces any oral or
electronic data transmission order to writing prior to actually
dispensing the controlled substance.
(c) The prescriber provides a triplicate prescription, completed
as provided by subdivision (a) of Section 11164, by the seventh day
following the transmission of the initial order; a postmark by the
seventh day following transmission of the initial order shall
constitute compliance.
(d) If the prescriber fails to comply with subdivision (c), the
pharmacy shall so notify the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement in
writing within 144 hours of the prescriber's failure to do so and
shall make and retain a written, readily retrievable record of the
prescription, including the date and method of notification of the
Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement.
SEC. 6. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because the
only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district
will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction,
eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime
or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government
Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of
Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution.
_____________________________________ All matter omitted in this
version of the bill appears in the bill as amended in the Senate,
June 15, 2000 (JR 11) ____________________________________