Bill Text: HI HB2144 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii House Bill 2144 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Prescription Medicine; Pharmacist; Physician

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-01-23 - Referred to HLT, CPC/JUD, referral sheet 5 [HB2144 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2014-HB2144-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2144
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2014
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO PRESCRIPTIONS.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. Abuse of prescription narcotic drugs poses immense health risks, as well as serious health and social challenges nationally and globally. Proliferation of narcotic drugs in secondary markets is also of grave concern.

Physicians and pharmacists both bear significant responsibility in the prescription and dispensing of pharmaceuticals. Pharmacists are trained and licensed to ensure appropriate access to pharmaceuticals. Physicians have a medical and ethical responsibility to their patients to offer the best available medical care. Both physicians and pharmacists must comply with strict medical and professional standards in prescribing and dispensing drugs.

The purpose of this Act is to prevent addiction to narcotics both in the prescription and secondary markets by placing restrictions on the prescription and dispensing of these drugs.

SECTION 2. Section 329-38, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (f) to read as follows:

"(f) The effectiveness of a prescription for the purposes of this section shall be determined as follows:

(1) A prescription for a controlled substance shall be issued for a legitimate medical purpose by an individual practitioner acting in the usual course of the practitioner's professional practice. The responsibility for the proper prescribing and dispensing of controlled substances shall be upon the prescribing practitioner, but a corresponding responsibility shall rest with the pharmacist who fills the prescription. An order purporting to be a prescription issued not in the usual course of professional treatment or for legitimate and authorized research shall not be deemed a prescription within the meaning and intent of this section, and the person who knowingly fills such a purported prescription, as well as the person who issues the prescription, shall be subject to the penalties provided for violations of this chapter;

(2) A prescription may not be issued to allow an individual practitioner to obtain controlled substances for supplying the individual practitioner for the purpose of general dispensing to patients;

(3) A prescription may not be issued for the dispensing of narcotic drugs listed in any schedule for the purpose of "detoxification treatment" or "maintenance treatment" except as follows:

(A) The administering or dispensing directly (but not prescribing) of narcotic drugs listed in any schedule to a narcotic drug-dependent person for "detoxification treatment" or "maintenance treatment" shall be deemed to be "in the course of a practitioner's professional practice or research" so long as the practitioner is registered separately with the department and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency as required by section 329-32(e) and complies with Title 21 Code of Federal Regulations section 823(g) and any other federal or state regulatory standards relating to treatment qualification, security, records, and unsupervised use of drugs; and

(B) Nothing in this section shall prohibit a physician or authorized hospital staff from administering or dispensing, but not prescribing, narcotic drugs in a hospital to maintain or detoxify a person as an incidental adjunct to medical or surgical treatment of conditions other than addiction;

(4) An individual practitioner shall not prescribe or dispense a substance included in schedule II, III, IV, or V for that individual practitioner's personal use, except in a medical emergency; [~~and~~]

(5) A pharmacist shall not dispense a substance included in schedule II, III, IV, or V for the pharmacist's personal use[.]; and

(6) A prescription shall not be issued for the dispensing of narcotic drugs listed in any schedule for the purpose of pain management except as follows:

(A) For acute pain, a practitioner shall not issue a prescription for narcotic drugs listed in any schedule in quantities greater than a seven-day supply and any refill shall be permitted only after the pharmacist has consulted with the practitioner on the continued use of the drug and other prescription alternatives; and

(B) For chronic pain, a practitioner shall not issue a prescription for narcotic drugs listed in any schedule in quantities greater than a thirty-day supply and any refill shall be permitted only after the patient has obtained a blood or urine test, as appropriate, to verify that the drug dispensed has been used by the patient as prescribed.

Before filling a prescription for any narcotic drug, the pharmacist shall consult with the patient on the side effects of sustained use of the drug and its addiction potential. The pharmacist may assess a fee to the patient or the patient's insurance company for the consultation. This paragraph shall not apply to hospice patients."

SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Prescription Medicine; Pharmacist; Physician

Description:

Limits the number of days of supply of narcotic drugs that a physician may prescribe for pain management. Requires a blood or urine test and consultation with a pharmacist for refills of narcotic drugs in certain circumstances. Excludes hospice patients from these limitations.

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.