SB 81 Text

Senate Bill No. 81
(By Senators Jenkins, Foster and Stollings)
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[Introduced January 13, 2010; referred to the Committee on Health and Human Resources; and then to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new article, designated §16-5W-1, §16-5W-2, §16-5W-3, §16-5W-4, §16-5W-5, §16-5W-6 and §16-5W-7, all relating to creating the West Virginia Official Prescription Program Act; requiring prescriptions to be written on an official tamper-proof form; requiring the promulgation of rules; reporting requirements; and defining terms.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new article, designated §16-5W-1, §16-5W-2, §16-5W-3, §16-5W-4, §16-5W-5, §16-5W-6 and §16-5W-7, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5W. WEST VIRGINIA OFFICIAL PRESCRIPTION PROGRAM ACT.
§16-5W-1. Short title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the "West Virginia Official Prescription Program Act".
§16-5W-2. Legislative findings.
(a) Use of fraudulent prescriptions to illegally obtain drugs is a serious problem in America today. It has few equals for sheer size, speed of growth, resistance to deterrence, harm to people from so many strata of society, and large costs to insurers. Overdoses, deaths and injuries continue growing at an alarming rate. More than twenty million Americans-nearly seven percent of the population-were estimated to abuse prescription drugs in 2007, based on the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
(b) Prescription drug diversion drains health insurers nationally of up to $72.5 billion a year, including up to $24.9 billion annually for private insurers. Estimated losses include insurance schemes, plus the larger hidden costs of treating patients who develop serious medical problems from abusing the addictive narcotics they obtained through the swindles.
(c) Federal law now requires tamper resistant prescriptions for all Medicaid prescriptions, and states such as New York have recently implemented document security programs as part of their efforts to reduce substantially prescription drug fraud.
(d) New York documented Medicaid savings of $140 million directly tied to its secure issuance prescription program during the first year after implementation of the program, and it is estimated that the savings resulting from the reduction in prescription drug fraud will more than pay for the cost of implementing an official secure state prescription program in West Virginia within a reasonable period of time following initial implementation.
§16-5W-3. Definitions.
As used in this article:
(1) "Board" means the Board of Pharmacy established in article five, chapter thirty of this code.
(2) "Department" means Department of Health and Human Resources.
(3) "Dispenser" means a person authorized in this state to distribute to the ultimate user a substance monitored by the prescription monitoring program, but does not include:
(A) A licensed hospital pharmacy that distributes such substances for the purposes of inpatient hospital care or the dispensing of prescriptions for controlled substances at the time of discharge from such a facility; or
(B) A licensed nurse or medication aide who administers such a substance at the direction of a licensed physician.
(4) "Prescriber" means a licensed health care professional with prescriptive authority.
(5) "West Virginia Official Prescription Program" means a program established under section four of this article.
(6) "Program Vendor" means the private contractor selected to manage the production and delivery of official state prescriptions forms.
(7) "West Virginia Official Prescription" means a prescription, which has been authorized and issued by the state for use, and meets the following criteria:
(A) Prevention of unauthorized copying,
(B) Prevention of erasure or modification; and
(C) An ability to prevent counterfeit prescription forms.
(D) Capable of supporting automated validation through pharmacy claims processing systems using the official state prescription control number.
(8) "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources.

§16-5W-4. Establishment of West Virginia Official Prescription Program.

(a) The secretary shall establish and maintain, with the consultation of the board, an official prescription program dispensed in the state.
(b) The secretary may contract with a vendor to establish and maintain the official state prescription program pursuant to guidelines which the secretary shall promulgate. The guidelines shall include at a minimum the requirements outlined in subsection (c) of this section.
(c) (1) On July 1, 2011, every prescription written in West Virginia by a practitioner shall be written on an official West Virginia tamper-resistant prescription. This subsection does not apply to prescriptions generated within a licensed medical facility that results in the internal dispensing of prescription drugs to any patient receiving treatment in that facility where the patient is never in possession of the prescription. A pharmacist may not fill a written prescription from a West Virginia practitioner unless issued upon an official prescription form. Nothing in this section may be construed to impact regulations regarding oral, electronic, or out-of-state prescription practices.
(2) An official West Virginia prescription form shall be prepared and issued by the secretary in batch quantities, which forms shall be serially numbered and unable to be altered, copied, or counterfeited. Such prescription blanks may not be transferable. The official prescription forms shall be provided by the secretary to registered practitioners and facilities without charge. Each prescription shall be issued to a specific practitioner marked with a unique number and shall only be used by that practitioner. The secretary shall establish security requirements for the department or the contracted program vendor concerning the procurement of the official prescription forms. The selected prescription printing facility shall have at least a two year history of SAS70 audits and maintain annual SAS70 audits as a minimal facility security requirement to be authorized to print official West Virginia prescription forms. A pharmacist may not fill a written prescription from a West Virginia practitioner unless issued upon an official state issued prescription form. Nothing in this section may be construed to impact regulations regarding oral, electronic, or out-of-state prescription practices.
(3) The official West Virginia prescription forms shall be provided by the secretary to registered practitioners and facilities without charge. The forms may be used only by the person to whom they are issued and are not transferable.
§16-5W-5. Legislative rules.
The secretary shall propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty- nine-a of this code as are necessary to implement the provisions of this article to establish and maintain an official statewide prescription program outlined in section four of this article with specific criteria to eliminate or significantly reduce prescription fraud. The secretary shall develop the standard format and identifying markers on the front and back of the prescription pad to be used by practitioners throughout the state. "Markers" shall be defined as the specific criteria under this section which shall be authorized by the state to be used on official prescriptions. The secretary shall further develop contract requirements which shall contain the adopted format and criteria approved.
§16-5W-6. Reporting requirements.
(a) Practitioners shall immediately notify the department on forms supplied by the secretary of the loss, destruction, theft or unauthorized use of any official state prescription forms issued to them as well as the failure to receive official state prescription forms within a reasonable time after ordering them from the secretary. Upon receipt of notification, the secretary shall take appropriate action.
(b) Each dispenser shall submit to the department, by electronic means, or other format specified in a waiver granted by the secretary, the official state prescription control number as part of a state prescription monitoring program.
§16-5W-7. Limitation of additional record keeping and liability.
(a) Official state prescription forms shall include unique serial numbers for tracking purposes and to decrease potential fraud. Inclusion of a serial number does not:
(1) Place additional tracking or reporting responsibilities on a practitioner or pharmacist with the exception of those listed in section six of this act; or
(2) Affect the liability or responsibility of a practitioner or a pharmacist.
(b) Use of official West Virginia prescription forms shall meet all Medicaid requirements for tamper-resistant security features.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create the West Virginia Official Prescription Program to reduce prescription drug fraud establishing an official prescription program. The bill requires prescriptions to be written on an official tamper-proof form. The bill also requires the promulgation of rules, establishes reporting requirements and defines terms .

This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.

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