WV Pharmacists Association

WVPA Update

March 3, 2010

Committee Substitute for Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 365 passed the Senate yesterday, and sent to the House of Delegates where it will be received today and assigned to two Committees for deliberations. (The above is not a typo...it is two (2) committee substitutes because two Senate committees amended the bill.)

This proposed legislation calls for all practitioners, as that term is defined in the Controlled Substance Act, to have access either online or electronically to the Board of Pharmacy's database by July 1, 2011.

For your information, practitioners include all prescribers and dispensers of controlled substances, including clinics and hospital emergency rooms. This is a dramatic change from the original draft of this bill which call for only retail pharmacies to have access to the database. I suggested to committee and subcommittee members in three meetings that all practitioners be included if the intent of the bill is to curtail diversion and misuse.

The proposed law provides liability protection for pharmacists and pharmacies. First, practitioners are not required to access the database, thus it is up to the professional judgement of the pharmacist, as it is with other practitioners, as to when they go to the database to review a patient's controlled substance records.

Second, since the database may have inaccurate data, a pharmacist or pharmacy has absolute defense in any civil or criminal action brought due to their dispensing or refusing to dispense a controlled substance based on the information in the database. This protection is also given other practitioners.

The Board of Pharmacy is directed by the bill to promulgate a rule relating to this new law, which will give pharmacists further guidance before the law becomes effective.

I will be monitoring this bill in the House of Delegates because of the potential of it being amended requiring practitioners to access the database when prescribing or dispensing a controlled prescription. For example, House Bill 3247 requires prescribers to access the database. Although it has not been put before a committee, its provisions can be amended into Senate Bill 365 as it is germane to the subject. There is strong support especially among lawmakers from Southern WV to pass a law(s) to stop diversion. Wyoming County witnessed the deaths of 84 people in 2009 because of prescription drug overdose, according to that county's prosecuting attorney.

After today, the Senate can only consider bills that have passed the House of Delegates and the House can only consider bills passed by the Senate. That does not prevent bills from being amended by either house, and sending a bill back to the house of origin. The pace of legislation going thru the process will quicken for the next 10 days since the Legislature is to adjourn at midnight, March 13. Pharmacists can review an update of pending legislation of interest to pharmacy by going to WVPA's Web site: www.wvpharmacy.org