hb4419 intr

H. B. 4419

(By Delegates Border, Perdue, Michael,

Douglas, Compton, H. White and Kominar)

[Introduced February 6, 2002; referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary.]

A BILL to amend article four, chapter sixty-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section four hundred ten, relating to creating the misdemeanor offense of withholding information from a practitioner that a patient has obtained a prescription for a controlled substance from another practitioner.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That article four, chapter sixty-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section four hundred ten, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. OFFENSES AND PENALTIES.
§60A-4-410. Prohibited acts -- Withholding information from
practitioner; additional controlled substances; penalties.

(a) It is unlawful for a patient, with the intent to deceive and obtain a prescription for a controlled substance, to withhold information from a practitioner that the patient has obtained a prescription for a controlled substance of a similar therapeutic use in a concurrent time period from another practitioner.

(b) Any person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, may be confined in the county or regional jail for not more than six months, or fined not more than one thousand dollars, or both fined and imprisoned.

(c) The offense established by this section is in addition to and a separate and distinct offense from any other offense set forth in this code.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create the misdemeanor offense of a patient withholding information from a practitioner that the patient has obtained a prescription for a controlled substance from another practitioner when the patient is seeking a similar prescription from the second practitioner.

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