Senate Bill No. 693
(By Senators Unger and Minard)
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[Introduced March 21, 2005; referred to the Committee
on Health and Human Resources.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new article, designated §16-2J-1, §16-2J-2
and §16-2J-3, all relating to directing the Department of
Health and Human Resources and the State Board of Pharmacy to
implement a pilot program through which unused prescription
drugs, other than opiates, can be transferred from nursing
home facilities to pharmacies owned by local health
departments or county pharmacies for the purpose of
distributing medication to indigent people.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new article designated §16-2J-1, §16-2J-2 and
§16-2J-3, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2J. UTILIZATION OF UNUSED PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION.
§16-2J-1. Short title.
This article may be cited as the "Utilization of Unused
Prescription Medications Act."
§16-2J-2. Pilot program.
(a) The Department of Health and Human Resources and the State
Board of Pharmacy shall jointly develop and implement a pilot
program consistent with public health and safety through which
unused prescription drugs, other than prescription drugs defined as
controlled dangerous substances by section one-hundred-one, article
one, chapter sixty-a of this code, may be transferred from nursing
facilities to pharmacies operated by city-county health departments
or county pharmacies for the purpose of distributing the medication
to residents of this state who are medically indigent.
(b) The Department of Health and Human Resources and the State
Board of Pharmacy shall review and evaluate the program no later
than eighteen months after its implementation and shall submit a
report and any recommendations to the Governor, the Speaker of the
House of Delegates, and the President of the Senate.
(c) The Department of Health and Human Resources and the State
Board of Pharmacy shall propose rules for legislative approval in
accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code. The rules and procedures shall
provide:
(1) For a formulary for the medications to be distributed
pursuant to the program;
(2) For the protection of the privacy of the individual for
whom the medication was originally prescribed;
(3) For the integrity and safe storage and safe transfer of
the medication, which may include, but shall not be limited to,
limiting the drugs made available through the program to those that
were originally dispensed by unit dose or an individually sealed
dose or which remain in intact packaging;
(4) For the tracking of and accountability for the
medications; and
(5) For other matters necessary for the implementation of the
program.
(d) In accordance with the rules and procedures of a program
established pursuant to this section, the resident of a nursing
facility, or the representative or guardian of a resident may
donate unused prescription medications, other than prescription
drugs defined as controlled dangerous substances by section
one-hundred-one, article one, chapter sixty-a of this code, for
dispensation to medically indigent people.
(e) Physicians, pharmacists and other health care
professionals shall not be subject to liability for participation
in the program established by this article when acting within the
scope of practice of their license and in good faith compliance
with the rules promulgated pursuant to this Act.
(f) For purposes of this section, "medically indigent" means a person who has no health insurance or who otherwise lacks
reasonable means to purchase prescribed medications.
§16-2J-3. Penalties.
It is unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to sell,
offer for sale, barter or give away any unused quantity of drugs
obtained by prescription, except through a program pursuant to the
Utilization of Unused Prescription Medications Act or as otherwise
provided by the State Board of Pharmacy.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to direct the Department of
Health and Human Resources and the State Board of Pharmacy to
implement a pilot program through which unused prescription drugs,
other than opiates, can be transferred from nursing home facilities
to pharmacies owned by local health departments or county
pharmacies for the purpose of distributing medication to indigent
people.
This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.