WEST virginia Legislature
2017 regular session
By
[
to the Committee on Prevention and Treatment of Substance then the Judiciary.
A BILL to amend and
reenact §16-1-6 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to
prohibiting the establishment of new methadone treatment programs and clinics
in this state except for programs and clinics operated as comprehensive
community mental health centers by the Division of Health or local nonprofit
organizations; requiring all private and community mental health center
methadone treatment programs to monitor each patient'pharmacy registry each month.
Be it enacted by the
Legislature of West Virginia:
That §16-1-6 of the
Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 1. STATE PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM.
§16-1-6. Powers and duties of the commissioner.
The commissioner is the chief executive, administrative and
fiscal officer of the Bureau for Public Health and has the following powers and
duties:
(a) To supervise and direct the fiscal and administrative
matters of the bureau, and in that regard and in accordance with law, employ,
fix the compensation of and discharge all persons necessary for the proper
execution of the public health laws of this state and the efficient and proper
discharge of the duties imposed upon, and execution of powers vested in the
commissioner by law and as directed by the secretary;
(b) To enforce all laws of this state concerning public
health; to that end, the commissioner shall make, or cause to be made,
investigations and inquiries respecting the cause of disease, especially of
epidemics and endemic conditions, and the means of prevention, suppression or
control of those conditions; the source of sickness and mortality, and the
effects of environment, employment, habits and circumstances of life on the
public health.
The commissioner shall further make, or cause to be made, inspections
and examinations of food, drink and drugs offered for sale or public
consumption in the manner the commissioner considers necessary to protect the
public health and shall report all violations of laws and rules relating to the
law to the prosecuting attorney of the county in which the violations occur;
(c) To make complaint or cause proceedings to be instituted
against any person, corporation or other entity for the violation of any public
health law before any court or agency, without being required to give security
for costs; the action may be taken without the sanction of the prosecuting
attorney of the county in which the proceedings are instituted or to which the
proceedings relate;
(d) To promote the provision of essential public
health services to citizens of this state;
(e) To monitor the administration, operation and coordination
of the local boards of health and local health officers;
(f) To develop and maintain a state plan of operation that
sets forth the needs of the state in the areas of public health; goals and
objectives for meeting those needs; methods for achieving the stated goals and
objectives; and needed personnel, funds and authority for achieving the goals
and objectives;
(g) To collect data as may be required to foster knowledge on
the citizenry's health status, the health system and costs of health care;
(h) To delegate to any appointee, assistant or employee any
and all powers and duties vested in the commissioner, including, but not limited
to, the power to execute contracts and agreements in the name of the
bureau. Provided, That
However, the commissioner is responsible for the acts of his or her
appointees, assistants and employees;
(i) To transfer at the direction of the secretary, notwithstanding
other provisions of this code, any patient or resident between hospitals and
facilities under the control of the commissioner and, by agreement with the
state Commissioner of Corrections and otherwise in accord with law, accept a
transfer of a resident of a facility under the jurisdiction of the state
Commissioner of Corrections;
(j) To make periodic reports to the Governor and to the
Legislature relative to specific subject areas of public health, the state
facilities under the supervision of the commissioner, or other matters
affecting the public health of the people of the state, at the direction of the
secretary;
(k) At the direction of the secretary, to accept and use for
the benefit of the health of the people of this state, any gift or devise of
any property or thing which is lawfully given.
Provided, That However, if any gift is for a
specific purpose or for a particular state hospital or facility it shall be
used as specified. Any profit which may
arise from any gift or devise of any property or thing shall be deposited in a
special revenue fund with the State Treasurer and shall be used only as
specified by the donor or donors;
(l) To acquire by condemnation or otherwise any interest,
right, privilege, land or improvement and hold title to the land or
improvement, for the use or benefit of the state or a state hospital or
facility, and, by and with the consent of the Governor, and at the direction of
the secretary, to sell, exchange or otherwise convey any interest, right,
privilege, land or improvement acquired or held by the state, state hospital or
state facility and deposit the proceeds from the sale, exchange or other
conveyance into the hospital services revenue account. Any condemnation proceedings shall be
conducted pursuant to chapter fifty-four of this code;
(m) To inspect and enforce rules to control the sanitary
conditions of and license all institutions and health care facilities as set
forth in this chapter, including, but not limited to, schools, whether public
or private, public conveyances, dairies, slaughterhouses, workshops, factories,
labor camps, places of entertainment, hotels, motels, tourist camps, all other
places open to the general public and inviting public patronage or public
assembly, or tendering to the public any item for human consumption and places
where trades or industries are conducted;
(n) To make inspections, conduct hearings, and to enforce the
legislative rules concerning occupational and industrial health hazards, the
sanitary condition of streams, sources of water supply, sewerage facilities,
and plumbing systems, and the qualifications of personnel connected with the
supplies, facilities or systems without regard to whether they are publicly or
privately owned; and to make inspections, conduct hearings and enforce the
legislative rules concerning the design of chlorination and filtration
facilities and swimming pools;
(o) To provide in accordance with this subdivision and the
definitions and other provisions of article one-a, chapter twenty-seven of this
code, and as directed by the secretary, for a comprehensive program for the
care, treatment and rehabilitation of alcoholics and drug abusers; for research
into the cause and prevention of alcoholism and drug abuse; for the training
and employment of personnel to provide the requisite rehabilitation of
alcoholics and drug abusers; and for the education of the public
concerning alcoholism and drug abuse. Effective
July 1, 2017, to prohibit the establishment of any new methadone treatment
program or facility in this state pursuant to 21 CFR §291.505 (1970) and, after
that date allow only a comprehensive community mental health center operated
and controlled by the Department of Health and Human Resources or local
nonprofit organizations, as provided in article two-a, chapter twenty-seven of
this code to establish and operate a new methadone treatment program; and
effective July 1, 2017, to require all private and community mental health
center methadone treatment programs to monitor a patient's pharmacy registry each month in order to detect and deter
the practice of doctor-shopping;
(p) To provide in accordance with this subdivision for a
program for the care, treatment and rehabilitation of the parents of sudden
infant death syndrome victims; for the training and employment of personnel to
provide the requisite rehabilitation of parents of sudden infant death syndrome
victims; for the education of the public concerning sudden infant death
syndrome; for the responsibility of reporting to the Legislature on a quarterly
basis the incidence of sudden infant death syndrome cases occurring in West
Virginia; for the education of police, employees and volunteers of all
emergency services concerning sudden infant death syndrome; for the state
sudden infant death syndrome advisory council to develop regional family
support groups to provide peer support to families of sudden infant death
syndrome victims; and for requesting appropriation of funds in both federal and
state budgets to fund the sudden infant death syndrome program;
(q) To establish and maintain a state hygienic laboratory as
an aid in performing the duties imposed upon the commissioner, and to employ
chemists, bacteriologists, and other employees that may be necessary to
properly operate the laboratory. The
commissioner may establish branches of the state laboratory at any points within
the state that are necessary in the interest of the public health;
(r) To establish and fund a uniform health professionals data
system to collect and maintain uniform data on all health professionals in the
state. This data shall include, but not
be limited to, the following information about each health professional: His or her name, profession, the area of the
state where he or she is practicing, his or her educational background, his or
her employer's name, and number of years practicing within the profession. The boards provided for in articles
three, four, four-a, five, seven, seven-a, fourteen, fourteen-a, fifteen,
sixteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-three, twenty-eight, thirty-one, thirty-two,
thirty-four, thirty-five, thirty-six and thirty-seven, chapter thirty of this
code shall annually collect the data on health professionals under their
jurisdiction in the format prescribed by the commissioner. Each board shall pay to the bureau annually,
an amount determined by the commissioner to be a pro rata portion, for
anticipated expenses to establish and operate the uniform health professionals
data system required by this section.
The commissioner may standardize data collection methods if necessary to
implement the provisions of this section.
The commissioner shall publish annually and make available, upon
request, a report setting forth the data which was collected the previous year;
areas of the state which the collected data indicates have a shortage of
health professionals; and projections, based upon the collected data, as to the
need for more health professionals in certain areas;
(s) To expend, for the purpose of performing the public
health duties imposed on the bureau, or authorized by law, any sums
appropriated by the Legislature. The
commissioner may make advance payments to public and nonprofit health services
providers when the commissioner determines it is necessary for the initiation
or continuation of public health services.
The advance payments, being in derogation of the principle of payment
only after receipt of goods or services, shall be authorized only after
serious consideration by the commissioner of the necessity of the
advance payments and shall be for a period no greater than ninety days in
advance of rendition of service or receipt of goods and continuation of health
services; and
(t) To exercise all other powers delegated to the
commissioner by the secretary or by this chapter or otherwise in this code, to
enforce all health laws, and to pursue all other activities necessary and
incident to the authority and area of concern entrusted to the bureau or the
commissioner.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is
to prohibit the establishment of new methadone treatment programs and clinics
in this state except for programs and clinics operated as comprehensive
community mental health centers and to require all private and community mental
health center methadone treatment programs to monitor each patient's pharmacy registry each month in an effort to prevent
the practice of doctor-shopping.
Strike-throughs indicate language
that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring
indicates new language that would be added.