SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 87
(By Senator Jenkins)
Requesting the Legislative Oversight Commission on Health and Human
Resources Accountability study allowing access to the State
Board of Pharmacy controlled substance database by entities
not currently granted access.
Whereas, The information required to be kept by the State
Board of Pharmacy is confidential and is open to inspection only by
the following persons:
(1) Inspectors and agents of the State Board of Pharmacy;
(2) Members of the West Virginia State Police expressly
authorized by the Superintendent of the West Virginia State Police
to have access to the information;
(3) Authorized agents of local law-enforcement agencies as a
member of a drug task force;
(4) Authorized agents of the Federal Drug Enforcement
Administration;
(5) Duly authorized agents of the Bureau for Medical Services;
(6) The Workers' Compensation Commission;
(7) Duly authorized agents of licensing boards of
practitioners in this state and other states authorized to
prescribe Schedules II, III and IV controlled substances;
(8) Prescribing practitioners and pharmacists; and
(9) Persons with an enforceable court order or regulatory
agency administrative subpoena; and
Whereas, Any information released by the State Board of
Pharmacy from the controlled substance database must be related to
a specific patient or an individual or entity on parole or under
investigation or court-ordered supervision by the party requesting
the information, except that practitioners who prescribe controlled
substances may request specific data related to their Drug
Enforcement Administration controlled substance registration number
or for the purpose of providing treatment to a patient; and
Whereas, The information maintained by the State Board of
Pharmacy may prove valuable to entities who currently do not have
specific and direct access to the data in the performance of their
job functions, specifically law enforcement individuals who are
involved in investigating drug offenses or offenders; and
Whereas, Reaching a balance between access to the data for
valid law enforcement purposes while remaining mindful of the
privacy expectations of those individuals whose data is maintained
on the database is essential; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Legislative Oversight Commission on Health and Human
Resources Accountability is hereby requested to study allowing
access to the State Board of Pharmacy controlled substance database
by entities not currently granted access
; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Legislative Oversight Commission on
Health and Human Resources Accountability report to the regular
session of the Legislature, 2009, on its findings, conclusions and
recommendations, together with drafts of any legislation necessary
to effectuate its recommendations; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the expenses necessary to conduct this
study, to prepare a report and draft necessary legislation be paid
from legislative appropriations to the Joint Committee on
Government and Finance.