ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2492
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chambers, and Delegate Ashley)
[By Request of the Executive]
[Passed March 11, 1995; in effect ninety days from passage.]
AN ACT to amend chapter sixty-a of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article nine, relating to
controlled substances monitoring and centralized information
repository; establishing the controlled substances monitoring
act; reporting system requirements; implementing the act;
establishing a central repository for information collected;
requiring certain information be reported; providing for
confidentially of records; limiting access to records;
reimbursing for certain costs associated with upgrading
software; retaining records; limiting civil liability;
requiring promulgation of rules; and criminal penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter sixty-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding
thereto a new article, designated article nine, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 9. CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES MONITORING.
§60A-9-1. Short title.
This article shall be referred to as the controlled substances
monitoring act.
§60A-9-2. Establishment of program; purpose.
There is hereby established a controlled substances monitoring
act the purpose of which is to require the recordation and
retention in a single repository of information regarding the
prescribing, dispensing and consumption of certain controlled
substances.
§60A-9-3. Reporting system requirements; implementation; central
repository requirement.
(a) On or before the first day of May, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-six, the board of pharmacy shall implement a program
wherein a central repository is established and maintained which
shall contain such information as is required by the provisions of
this article regarding Schedule II controlled substances
prescriptions written or filled in this state. In implementing
this program, the board of pharmacy shall consult with the division
of public safety, the licensing boards of practitioners affected by this article and affected practitioners.
(b) The program authorized by subsection (a) of this section
shall be designed to minimize inconvenience to patients,
prescribing practitioners and pharmacists while effectuating the
collection and storage of the required information. The board of
pharmacy shall allow reporting of the required information by
electronic data transfer where feasible, and where such is
infeasible, on reporting forms promulgated by the board of
pharmacy. The information required to be submitted by the
provisions of this article shall be required to be filed no more
frequently than once in a two-month period.
(c) The program authorized by subsection (a) of this section
shall also provide for the reimbursement in whole or in part of the
costs reasonably and necessarily incurred by pharmacists or
pharmacies in modifying software in conformance with the reporting
requirements of this article.
Provided, That the total expenditures
for reimbursements shall not exceed twenty-five thousand dollars.
The board of pharmacy is hereby authorized to promulgate an
emergency legislative rule to effectuate the reimbursement
provisions of this section in accordance with the provisions of
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code. The board of pharmacy shall
provide for the electronic transmission of the information required to be provided by this article by and through the use of a toll-
free telephone line.
§60A-9-4. Required information.
Whenever a medical services provider dispenses a controlled
substance listed in the provisions of section two hundred six,
article two of this chapter, or whenever a prescription for such
controlled substances is filled by (i) a pharmacist or pharmacy in
this state; (ii) a hospital, or other health care facility, for
out-patient use; or (iii) a pharmacy or pharmacist, licensed by the
board of pharmacy, but situated outside this state for delivery to
a person residing in this state, the medical services provider,
health care facility, pharmacist or pharmacy shall, in a manner
prescribed by rules promulgated by the board of pharmacy under this
article, report the following information, as applicable:
(1) The name, address, pharmacy prescription number and DEA
controlled substance registration number of the dispensing
pharmacy;
(2) The name and address of the person for whom the
prescription is written;
(3) The name, address and drug enforcement administration
controlled substances registration number of the practitioner
writing the prescription;
(4) The name and national drug code number of the Schedule II controlled substance dispensed;
(5) The quantity and dosage of the Schedule II controlled
substance dispensed;
(6) The date the prescription was filled; and
(7) The number of refills, if any, authorized by the
prescription.
The board of pharmacy may prescribe by rule promulgated under
this article the form to be used in prescribing a Schedule II
substance if, in the determination of the board, the administration
of the requirements of this section would be facilitated.
§60A-9-5. Confidentiality; limited access to records; period of
retention; no civil liability for required reporting.
The information required by this article to be kept by the
board of pharmacy shall be confidential and shall be open to
inspection only by inspectors and agents of the board of pharmacy,
members of the division of public safety expressly authorized by
the superintendent to have access to the information, duly
authorized agents of licensing boards of practitioners authorized
to prescribe Schedule II controlled substances and persons with an
enforceable court order or regulatory agency administrative
subpoena. The board shall maintain the information required by
this article for a period of no less than five years.
Notwithstanding any provisions of this code, data obtained under the provisions of this article may be used for compilation of
educational, scholarly or statistical purposes as long as the
identities of persons or entities remain confidential. No
individual or entity required to report under section four of this
article shall be subject to a claim for civil damages or other
civil relief for the reporting of information to the board of
pharmacy as required under and in accordance with the provisions of
this article.
§60A-9-6. Promulgation of rules.
The board of pharmacy shall promulgate legislative rules to
effectuate the purposes of this article in accordance with the
provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code.
§60A-9-7. Criminal penalties.
(a) Any person who is required to submit information to the
board of pharmacy pursuant to the provisions of this article who
fails to do so as directed by the board shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less
than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars.
(b) Any person who is required to submit information to the
board of pharmacy pursuant to the provisions of this article who
knowingly and willfully refuses to submit to the information
required by this article shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in a county or regional jail not more than six months or fined not more than one thousand
dollars, or both.
(c) Any person who is required by the provisions of this
article to submit information to the board of pharmacy who
knowingly submits thereto information known to that person to be
false or fraudulent shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be confined in a county or regional jail
not more than one year or fined not more than five thousand
dollars, or both.
(d) Any person granted access to the information required by
the provisions of this article to be maintained by the board of
pharmacy, who shall willfully disclose the information required to
be maintained by this article in a manner inconsistent with a
legitimate law-enforcement purpose, a legitimate professional
regulatory purpose, the terms of a court order or as otherwise
expressly authorized by the provisions of this article shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
confined in a county or regional jail for not more than six months
or fined not more than one thousand dollars, or both.