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.