HB2656 SUB 3/28
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2656
(By Delegates Overington, Anderson, Fragale,
Proudfoot, Border and Davis)
(Originating in the
Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources)
[March 28, 1997]
A BILL to amend chapter thirty of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article ten-a, relating to
creation of the position of certified animal euthanasia
technician; under the control of the state board of veterinary
medicine; provision for controlled substance permits issued by
the state board of pharmacy and drug enforcement
administration identification numbers all of which issued to
humane societies or animal shelters incorporated and organized
under the laws of this state; institutional recognition by the
federal internal revenue service as a tax exempt or
governmental organization; the certified animal euthanasia
technician education program, requiring passage of written and
practical examinations; areas in which applicants are tested; background checks; board to approve registration; annual
renewal required; limitations of authority; responsibility;
loss of certification; disciplinary authority; and board to
propose legislative rules.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter thirty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto
a new article, designated article ten-a, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 10A. ANIMAL EUTHANASIA TECHNICIANS.
§30-10A-1. Creating the position of certified animal euthanasia
technician.
There is hereby created the position of certified animal
euthanasia technician.
Certified animal euthanasia technicians
will perform animal euthanasia under the supervision of humane
officers as provided for under article thirty, chapter seven of
this code. Certified animal euthanasia technicians will be tested
prior to certification and educated on proper restraint, stress
management, controlled substance record keeping requirements, as
well as state and federal laws pertaining to liability relative to
handling and administration of any euthanasia solution. Upon
education and passage of tests to ascertain ability and
qualifications for this title, certified animal euthanasia
technicians will then be authorized to obtain euthanasia under
their own drug enforcement administration narcotics number. They will have authority to act as a euthanasia technician only under
the instruction and legal authorization of a humane society or
animal control facility for which they are employed. Candidates
will be tested prior to certification in the areas of proper
restraint, stress management, controlled substance record keeping
requirements, handling, administration and storage of euthanasia
drugs and solutions and other subject areas and proficiency
standards as the board of veterinary medicine may from time to time
prescribe. Upon certification, these technicians shall be
authorized to practice euthanasia under the limitations imposed by
this article and under the further authorization of a humane
officer or veterinarian. For the purposes of this article,
controlled substance permits issued by the state board of pharmacy
and drug enforcement administration shall be issued to
veterinarians or veterinary medical corporations as further
provided in chapter thirty, article ten of this code, and/or a
humane society or animal shelter incorporated and organized under
the laws of the State, and having one or more duly appointed
agents. The humane society or animal shelter shall possess a tax
exempt charitable or tax exempt governmental determination under
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. Certified animal
euthanasia technicians may practice euthanasia under the authority
of any licensed veterinarian as defined in chapter thirty, article
ten of this code, or a county humane officer as defined in chapter seven, article ten of this code. Certified animal euthanasia
technicians shall in no way represent to any person that their
title grants them authority to treat or act
in the care of animals
other than in the field of euthanasia under authorized instruction
and employment by a verified animal control facility or humane
society and under the supervision of a humane officer. as an
euthanasia technician in the care of animals other than in the
field of euthanasia under authorization as indicated above.
Recertification shall be required annually under such terms and
conditions as the board of veterinary medicine may prescribe.
Certified animal euthanasia technicians shall be tested and
annually renew their certification, under proof of employment with
a legitimate animal control facility or humane society through the
West Virginia board of veterinary medicine. Certified animal
euthanasia technicians may not continue their technician status
upon leaving, irrespective of cause, their employment with a humane
society or animal control facility which is on record with the
board of veterinary medicine and the drug enforcement
administration of the United States department of justice, and they
must, within twenty-four hours of discontinuation of such
employment, irrespective of cause, notify both the West Virginia
board of veterinary medicine, in whatever manner prescribed by the
board and the drug enforcement administration of the cessation of
their employment, as well as arrange for the collection or removal from their control of any euthanasia solutions acquired or
purchased under their drug enforcement administration number which
are still in existence. Annual joint registration shall be
required for every certified animal euthanasia technician on an
individual basis with both the board of veterinary medicine and the
board of pharmacy of this state. Failure to comply with this
requirement, whether through willful or negligent behavior or
because of simple neglect or indifference by the certified
technician may result in revocation of certification by the board
of veterinary medicine. Certified animal euthanasia technicians
shall at all times maintain proper records of these controlled
substances, and shall willingly submit to an audit by either the
West Virginia board of veterinary medicine, the drug enforcement
administration or any other legally authorized agency of government
of their inventory and records. Institutional licensees holding a
controlled substances permit from the board of pharmacy or a
federal drug enforcement administration identification number shall
be responsible to insure that certified animal euthanasia
technicians at all times maintain proper records of controlled
substances relating to the inventory, storage and administration.
The proper completion and retention of these records shall be the
responsibility of the institutional licensee. Both institutional
licensees and certified technicians are subject to inspection and
audit by the West Virginia board of veterinary medicine, the West Virginia board of pharmacy and any other appropriate state or
federal agency relating to proper administration of inventory,
storage, use and record keeping of any controlled substance used
under authority of this article.
§
30-10A-2. Certified animal euthanasia technicians program.
(a) The certified animal euthanasia technicians program shall
be sponsored by the West Virginia board of veterinary medicine.
This course shall be designed to teach candidates recordkeeping,
legal, safety and practical information needed to become a
certified animal euthanasia technician. The application for
certified animal euthanasia technician shall be completed and
submitted to the West Virginia board of veterinary medicine at
least thirty days prior to the scheduled test date. Such
application shall be accompanied by the appropriate application and
examination fee specified by the West Virginia board of veterinary
medicine.
(b) The passage of a written examination shall be required of
every applicant applying to be a certified animal euthanasia
technician. The examination shall be approved of and administered
by the West Virginia board of veterinary medicine. the candidate
must pass the written portion of this exam with a minimum correct
score
of seventy percent.
as determined by the board of veterinary
medicine Additionally, a practical skills exam shall be
administered. The exam shall be conducted to test an applicant's ability to properly restrain an animal, measure a correct dosage of
euthanasia solution, locate an injection site and perform and
injection. An applicant must exhibit knowledge of how to perform
euthanasia correctly and humanely. A passing grade in the
practical exam does not depend entirely upon an applicant's ability
to hit a vein during the practical exam, but also on the
correctness and humanity of the administration. Applicants shall
also be tested in the following areas:
(1) Animal restraint;
(2) DEA regulations;
(3)
Recordkeeping and inventory; Record keeping, inventory and
proper storage and security;
(4) Certification process;
(5) Legal concern; and
(6) Sodium pentobarbital usage.
(c) Applicants shall sign a form authorizing the West Virginia
board of veterinary medicine to make inquiries through the
West
Virginia board of pharmacy, United States department of justice,
drug enforcement administration, or any other legal jurisdiction,
for the purposes
for determining candidates eligibility to obtain
a federal narcotics acquisition number. of determining the
character and reputation of the applicant.
(d) The West Virginia board of veterinary medicine in all
cases of registration or reregistration by any person who states he or she is a certified animal euthanasia technician, with the intent
of acquiring a drug enforcement administration number shall request
to be informed by the drug enforcement administration of the
application, and the West Virginia board of veterinary medicine in
all cases, is required to approve authorization for a drug
enforcement administration number, prior to authorizing any person
to act as a certified animal euthanasia technician.
(e) All persons tested and approved for registration as
certified animal euthanasia technicians shall renew such
certification annually. Certification renewal notices shall be
mailed by the West Virginia board of veterinary medicine to all
certified animal euthanasia technicians at their last known
business address on or about the first day of December of each
year, and shall be completed and returned to the board no later
than the thirty-first day of December, with the appropriate fee.
All renewal
s requests for certified animal euthanasia technicians
must be signed by the
employer, as well as the certified animal
euthanasia technician, and must list the physical location of the
primary facility where the
employee works and maintains the
controlled euthanasia solution. certified technician provides
euthanasia services. Such renewals shall be for the calendar year
next beginning the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-eight. Failure to timely renew such certification shall be
cause for revocation of certified animal euthanasia technician status, and the
drug enforcement administration shall be notified
board of veterinary medicine shall not later than two working days
inform the board of pharmacy that the individual is no longer
authorized to handle,
acquire or administer euthanasia substances.
The annual renewal fee shall be twenty-five dollars if received by
the thirty-first of December for the next calendar year, and
thirty-five dollars if received after the thirty-first of December.
(f)
Certified animal euthanasia technicians may acquire
through testing, maintain and renew such certification, only when
employed by a properly authorized humane society or animal control
facility in this state. In the event a certified
animal euthanasia
technician leaves his or her employment, he or she shall notify the
West Virginia board of veterinary medicine, as well as the drug
enforcement administration.
technician no longer provides
euthanasia services either as an employee or an independent
practitioner he or she shall notify the West Virginia boards of
veterinary medicine and pharmacy. The certified animal euthanasia
technician shall return the drug enforcement administration
certificate and any unused drug enforcement administration order
form 222's to the drug enforcement administration. Any controlled
substance still appropriated in the name of the certified animal
euthanasia technician shall be immediately transferred by way of a
drug enforcement administration 222 transfer form to another
certified animal euthanasia technician or veterinarian with a drug enforcement administration number, or returned to the drug
enforcement administration according to their requirements for
return or other disposition.
In the event a certified animal euthanasia technician
transfers his or her employment from one employment facility to
another, he or she shall notify the board of veterinary medicine
and the drug enforcement administration, and apply for a new drug
enforcement administration number for himself or herself for the
new location.
Under no circumstances
may a person who was a certified animal
euthanasia technician be authorized to use such title or offer his
or her services in such capacity without renewing his or her
registration and certification to a particular humane society or
animal control facility, as authorized through the West Virginia
board of veterinary medicine and the United States department of
justice, drug enforcement administration. shall a certified
euthanasia technician practice euthanasia at any humane society or
animal shelter which does not possess a current state controlled
substance permit issued by the board of pharmacy and a current drug
enforcement administration identification number issued by the drug
enforcement administration.
§30-10A-3. Limitations of authority responsibility; loss of
certification; authority over certified animal euthanasia technicians; disciplinary authority; suspension of certified animal euthanasia
technicians authority.
(a) Certified animal euthanasia technicians are authorized to
euthanize animals assigned to the care of a legally operated humane
society or animal control facility, within this state. Certified
animal euthanasia technicians may not offer or in any way indicate
their ability to practice their profession outside the direct
authority of the humane society or animal control facility which
employs them
or otherwise contracts for their services. Certified
animal euthanasia technicians are not qualified, nor may they
indicate that they are qualified, to act in any capacity relative
to animals beyond their specified and regulated authority to
euthanatize, at the instruction of their employer, humane society
or animal control facility, and under the supervision of a humane
officer.
(b) It shall be the responsibility of the certified animal
euthanasia technicians to obtain for themselves, or through their
respective employers, sufficient liability insurance coverage.
Any person certified as an animal euthanasia technician must
abide by and protect the requirements of his or her position as
mandated by the reugularoty authorities of the West Virginia board
of veterinary medicine and the
United States drug enforcement
administration. West Virginia board of pharmacy.
(c) (b) Any certified animal euthanasia technicians certification shall immediately be revoked by the West Virginia
board of veterinary medicine in the event of, but not limited to,
any of the following:
(1) Any adjudication of a felony;
(2) Revocation or suspension of a drug enforcement
administration controlled substance permit;
(3) Leaving the employ of a animal control facility,
irrespective of the cause. However, the transfer to another
authorized animal care or animal control facility approved by the
board of veterinary medicine and filed properly with drug
enforcement administration shall be excepted from this; or
(4) (2) Cruelty to animals;
(3) Any other circumstance or event which the board of
veterinary medicine may prescribe by legislative rule in accordance
with chapter 29A of this code
(d) While all certified animal euthanasia technicians are
employed by humane societies or animal control facilities, they
shall acknowledge and accept that they may not, by law, act in any
official capacity as a certified animal euthanasia technician
contrary to any requirements of the West Virginia board of
veterinary medicine, the drug enforcement adminstration or the
state of West Virginia.
(e) (c) The board of veterinary medicine shall maintain
authority over the certified animal euthanasia technicians as their certification regulatory agency. The board of veterinary medicine
may take disciplinary action against a certified animal euthanasia
technician when justified due to misconduct. Such action may
include, but not be limited to, fines, suspension or revocation of
certification. Any disciplinary action by the board of veterinary
medicine may not infringe upon the authority of any law-enforcement
department or agency.
(f) (d) The board of veterinary medicine has the right to
suspend the authority of a certified animal euthanasia technician.
Upon any such suspension it shall notify the
drug enforcement
administration thereof. board of pharmacy. In the event of
suspension or revocation of the rights to perform the activities of
a certified animal euthanasia technician, it is solely the
responsibility of the animal control facility or humane society to
replace the suspended or revoked technician with a qualified and
authorized individual capable of performing animal euthanasia.
(g) (e) In the event that sodium pentobarbital is no longer
approved as the euthanasia "drug of choice" for animals by either
state or federal mandate, the West Virginia board of veterinary
medicine shall make the determination of the replacement " drug of
choice" for sodium pentobarbital for use by certified animal
euthanasia technicians. Said replacement "drug of choice" shall be
administered and controlled
, properly stored and secured by
the
certified animal euthanasia technician, according to its controlled substance schedule as set by the drug enforcement administration
and in full compliance with the laws of West Virginia and the
requirements of the West Virginia board of veterinary medicine. an
animal control facility or humane society which meets the
qualifications in section one of this article.
(h) (f) Certified animal euthanasia technicians are authorized
to purchase, acquire, handle and administer only sodium
pentobarbital through their drug enforcement administration
registration. Only in the event that sodium pentobarbital is no
longer approved or legally obtainable shall this restriction be
altered. In such case, the determined "drug of choice" for animal
euthanasia as specified by the West Virginia board of veterinary
medicine shall be authorized for usage by qualified certified
animal euthanasia technicians.
§30-10A-4. Board to propose legislative rules.
The board of veterinary medicine shall propose legislative
rules to fulfill the purposes of this article.
Responsibilities of individual boards, coordination
between boards, rule-making authority.
The board of veterinary medicine shall be responsible for
implementation and enforcement of this article, after consultation
with the board of pharmacy, the board of veterenary medicine shall
propose legislative rules to fulfill the purposes of this article
in accordance with chapter 29A of this code.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create an euthanasia
technician who is certified by the board of veterinary medicine
after this board consults with the board of pharmacy. The board of
veterinary medicine shall prescribe by legislative rule the
conditions for certification of these technicians. Euthanasia
services are limited to those animals declared by licensed
veterinarians or county humane officers as eligible for such
procedures. The article authorizes euthanasia to be performed at
animal shelters or humane societies organized under state law and
recognized by the federal internal revenue service. Appropriate
state and federal licenses for controlled substances are the
responsibility of the individual facility. Animal euthanasia may
not be practiced for the purposes of this article in other than an
animal control shelter or humane society possessing the appropriate
licenses from the state board of pharmacy and the federal drug
enforcement administration. Additionally, the bill recites subject
areas in which the proficiency of technicians shall be tested.
Dual registration by technicians is required with the boards of
veterinary medicine and pharmacy.