COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 362
(By Senators Jenkins, Stollings, Tomblin (Mr. President), Barnes,
Edgell, Foster, Laird, Plymale, Prezioso and Palumbo)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported March 1, 2010.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §60A-4-410 of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to clarifying that it is
unlawful to knowingly withhold information from a medical
practitioner in order to obtain a prescription for a
controlled substance when one has a valid current prescription
for the same or similar drug; and increasing penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §60A-4-410 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted 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.
(a) It is unlawful for a patient, in an attempt to obtain a
prescription for a controlled substance, to knowingly withhold
information from a practitioner that the patient has obtained a
prescription for a controlled substance of the same or 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 nine months, or fined
not more than
one thousand dollars $2,500, 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.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this is to clarify that the statute also
prohibits misleading or false information from being given to a
medical practitioner in order to obtain another prescription for a
controlled substance. The bill also increases the criminal
penalties.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added
.)