ENGROSSED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 347
(By Senators Wiedebusch, Minard and Bailey)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 25, 1994.]
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A BILL to amend chapter sixty-a of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article nine, relating to
controlled substances monitoring and centralized reporting
to board of pharmacy; establishment of program; purpose;
reporting system requirement; implementation; requirement
for electronic reporting if feasible; information required;
confidentiality; access to records; period of retention;
legislative rules; and criminal penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter sixty-a of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by
adding thereto a new article, designated article nine, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 9. CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES MONITORING.
§60A-9-1. Short title.
This article shall be referred to as the controlled
substances monitoring act.
§60A-9-2. Establishment of program; purpose.
There is hereby established a controlled substances
monitoring act the purpose of which is to require the recordation
and retention in a single repository of information regarding the
prescribing, dispensing and consumption of certain controlled
substances.
§60A-9-3. Reporting system requirements; implementation; central
repository requirement.
(a) On or before the first day of January, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-five, the board of pharmacy shall implement a
program wherein a central repository is established and
maintained which shall contain such information as is required by
the provisions of this article regarding Schedule II and III
controlled substances prescription written or filled in this
state. In implementing this program, the board of pharmacy shall
consult with the division of public safety, the licensing boards
of practitioners affected by this article and effected
practitioners
(b) The program authorized by subsection (a) of this section
shall be designed to minimize inconvenience to patients,
prescribing practitioners and pharmacists while effectuating the
collection and storage of the required information. The board of
pharmacy shall allow reporting of the required information by
electronic data transfer where feasible, and where such is
infeasible, on reporting forms promulgated by the board of
pharmacy. The information required to be submitted by theprovisions of this article shall be required to be filed more
frequently than on a bimonthly basis.
§60A-9-4. Required information.
Whenever a prescription is filled by a pharmacist or
pharmacy in this state for a controlled substance listed in the
provisions of section two hundred six or two hundred eight,
article two of this chapter, the pharmacist or pharmacy shall, in
a manner prescribed by the board of pharmacy, report to the board
of pharmacy the following information:
(1) The name of the dispensing pharmacy and pharmacist;
(2) The name of the person for whom the prescription is
written;
(3) The name of the practitioner writing the prescription;
(4) The name of the Schedule II or Schedule III controlled
substance prescribed;
(5) The quantity and dosage of the Schedule II or Schedule
III controlled substance prescribed;
(6) The date the prescription was filled; and
(7) The number of refills, if any, authorized by the
prescription.
§60A-9-5. Confidentiality; limited access to records; period of
retention.
The information required by this article to be kept by the
board of pharmacy shall be confidential and shall be open to
inspection only by inspectors and agents of the board of
pharmacy, members of the division of public safety expressly
authorized by the superintendent to have access to the
information, duly authorized agents of licensing boards ofpractitioners authorized to prescribe Schedule II or Schedule III
controlled substances and persons with an enforceable court
order. The board shall maintain the information required by this
article for a period of no less than five years.
§60A-9-6. Promulgation of rules.
The board of pharmacy shall promulgate rules to effectuate
the purposes of this article in accordance with the provisions of
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code.
§60A-9-7. Criminal penalties.
(a) Any person who is required to submit information to the
board of pharmacy pursuant to the provisions of this article who
fails to do so as directed by the board shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less
than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars.
(b) Any person who is required to submit information to the
board of pharmacy pursuant to the provisions of this article who
knowingly and willfully refuses to submit to the information
required by this article shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in a county or
regional jail not more than six months or fined not more than one
thousand dollars, or both.
(c) Any person who is required by the provisions of this
article to submit information to the board of pharmacy who
knowingly submits thereto information known to that person to be
false or fraudulent shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be confined in a county or regional
jail not more than one year or fined not more than five thousand
dollars, or both.
(d) Any person granted access to the information required by
the provisions of this article to be maintained by the board of
pharmacy, who shall willfully disclose the information required
to be maintained by this article in a manner inconsistent with a
legitimate law-enforcement purpose, a legitimate professional
regulatory purpose or the terms of a court order shall be guilty
of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined
in a county or regional jail for not more than six months or
fined not more than one thousand dollars, or both.