Senate Bill No. 485
(By Senators Prezioso and Unger)
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[Introduced March 8, 2005; referred to the Committee
on Health and Human Resources; and then to the Committee on
Government Organization.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §30-5-2 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the Board of Pharmacy powers and
duties; empowering the Board of Pharmacy to grant a waiver or
variance of all or part of a rule; and empowering the Board of
Pharmacy to waive rules for up to twelve months for approved
pilot or demonstration projects.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §30-5-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. PHARMACISTS, PHARMACY TECHNICIANS, PHARMACY INTERNS AND
PHARMACIES.
§30-5-2. Board of pharmacy; appointment, qualifications and terms
of members; compensation; powers and duties generally;
meetings and notices.
(a) There shall be a State Board of Pharmacy, known as the
"West Virginia Board of Pharmacy," which shall consist of five
practicing pharmacists and two public members, who shall be
appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of
the Senate. Any vacancy which occurs in the membership of the
board for any reason, including expiration of term, removal,
resignation, death, disability or disqualification shall be
immediately filled by the Governor as provided by this section.
Nothing in this section shall require the Governor to change the
composition of the Board prior to the usual expiration of any
member's term. The Governor may consider the diversity of pharmacy
areas of practice when filling vacancies.
(b) Each pharmacist member of the Board, at the time of his
or
her appointment, shall be a resident of this state, licensed and in
good standing to engage in the practice of pharmacy in this state
for a period of at least five years prior to their appointment.
The public members shall be residents of this state who have
attained the age of eighteen years and may not be a past or present
pharmacist, the spouse of a pharmacist, a person who has ever had
any material financial interest in providing pharmacy services or
who has engaged in any activity directly related to the practice of
pharmacy.
(c) Each member of the Board shall receive two hundred dollars
for each day spent in attending to the duties of the Board or of its committees, and shall be reimbursed for all actual and
necessary expenses incurred in carrying out his or her duties.
(d) The members of the Board in office on the date this
section takes effect shall, unless sooner removed, continue to
serve until their respective terms expire and until their
successors have been appointed and have qualified. Board member
terms shall be for five years with at least one pharmacist member's
term expiring yearly. The Governor may, with the advice and
consent of the Senate, reappoint any member for additional
consecutive terms. Members as of the first day of July, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-five, are eligible for reappointment
to additional terms regardless of the length of time they have
previously served on the Board.
(e) The Board, in addition to the authority, powers and duties
granted to the Board by this chapter and chapter sixteen of this
code, shall have the authority to:
(1) Regulate the practice of pharmacy;
(2) Regulate the employment of licensed interns in pharmacy;
(3) Appoint, within the limit of appropriations, inspectors
who shall be pharmacists, and investigators, to act as agents of
the Board within the provisions of this chapter and chapter sixteen
of this code and rules as the Board shall promulgate;
(4) Adopt rules of professional conduct;
and
(5) Hire an attorney, as may be necessary;
(6) Upon a showing that substantially equal protection of
health, safety and welfare will be afforded by a means other than
that prescribed in the particular rule without undue hardship or
upon a showing that compliance with the particular rule would be
unnecessarily and unreasonably costly and would serve no public
benefit, grant a waiver of, or variance from, all or part of a
rule: Provided, That no waiver or variance may be granted from a
requirement imposed by statute: Provided, however, That any waiver
or variance must be consistent with state and federal statutes and
pursuant to rules proposed by the Board for legislative approval in
accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-
nine-a of this code establishing the procedure for requesting a
waiver or variance and the applicability of a Board ruling; and
(7) For approved pilot or demonstration projects involving new
and better methods or concepts involving the ethical practice of
pharmacy, waive rules for up to twelve months: Provided, That
project waiver requests shall be submitted to the Board in detail
by the pharmacist-in-charge of the pharmacy in which the project is
to be implemented and no plan or project may be approved by the
Board if the project might jeopardize public health or welfare:
Provided, however, That inspectors of the Board shall monitor all
projects and the pharmacist-in-charge shall make written reports
monthly to the Board on the progress and objective results, and on
or before the completion date of the project waiver, the Board shall review the project results and either make appropriate
legislative change recommendations or require termination of the
project: Provided further, That the Board may rescind approval and
terminate the project at any time it considers the public interest
is not fully protected.
(f) A majority of the membership of the Board constitutes a
quorum for the transaction of business, and any motion is approved
by a majority vote of a quorum. All Board members shall be given
advance notice of each Board meeting.
(g) Meetings of the Board shall be held in public session,
except that the Board may hold closed sessions to prepare, approve,
grade or administer examinations. Disciplinary proceedings, prior
to a finding of probable cause, as provided in section seven of
this article shall be held in closed sessions, unless the party
subject to discipline requests that the hearing be held in public
sessions. All discussions or meetings of the Board concerning
personnel matters shall be held in closed session.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize the Board of
Pharmacy to grant a waiver or variance of all or part of a rule,
and to empower the Board to approve pilot or demonstration
projects.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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