76R8504 JD-D
By Madla S.B. No. 254
Substitute the following for S.B. No. 254:
By Coleman C.S.S.B. No. 254
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the authority of the director of the Texas Department
1-3 of Public Safety to permit the use of triplicate or single
1-4 prescription forms under the Texas Controlled Substances Act.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Section 481.002(47), Health and Safety Code, is
1-7 amended to read as follows:
1-8 (47) "Official prescription form" means a prescription
1-9 form that contains the prescription information required by Section
1-10 481.075 [and to which is affixed a prescription sticker].
1-11 SECTION 2. Section 481.074(n), Health and Safety Code, is
1-12 amended to read as follows:
1-13 (n) A pharmacist may permit the delivery of a controlled
1-14 substance to a person not known to the pharmacist, a pharmacist
1-15 intern, or the authorized delivery person without first requiring
1-16 the identification of the person to whom the controlled substance
1-17 is delivered if the pharmacist determines that an emergency exists
1-18 and that the controlled substance is needed for the immediate
1-19 well-being of the patient for whom the controlled substance is
1-20 prescribed. If a pharmacist permits delivery of a controlled
1-21 substance under this subsection, the pharmacist shall retain in the
1-22 records of the pharmacy for a period of not less than two years all
1-23 information relevant to the delivery known to the pharmacist,
1-24 including the name, address, and date of birth or age of the person
2-1 to whom the controlled substance is delivered. [The pharmacist
2-2 shall also retain in the records of the pharmacy for a period of
2-3 not less than two years the patient identification number of the
2-4 person to whom the controlled substance is delivered if the person
2-5 has such a number and that number is required by the prescribing
2-6 practitioner.]
2-7 SECTION 3. Sections 481.075(a)-(e), (i), and (k)-(m), Health
2-8 and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
2-9 (a) A practitioner who prescribes a controlled substance
2-10 listed in Schedule II shall, except as provided by rule adopted
2-11 under Section 481.0761, record the prescription on an official [a]
2-12 prescription form that includes the information required by this
2-13 section [and affix to the form a prescription sticker issued by the
2-14 director under this section].
2-15 (b) Each official prescription form [sticker] must be
2-16 sequentially numbered [and produced in a manner that makes
2-17 impossible removal of the sticker from the prescription form to
2-18 which it is affixed].
2-19 (c) The director shall issue official prescription forms
2-20 [stickers] to practitioners for a fee covering the actual cost of
2-21 printing, processing, and mailing the forms [stickers] at 100
2-22 [stickers] a package. Before mailing or otherwise delivering
2-23 prescription forms [stickers] to a practitioner, the director shall
2-24 print on each form [sticker] the number of the form [sticker] and
2-25 any other information the director determines is necessary.
2-26 (d) A person may not obtain an official [a] prescription
2-27 form [sticker] unless the person is a practitioner as defined by
3-1 Section 481.002(39)(A) or an institutional practitioner.
3-2 (e) Each official prescription form used to prescribe a
3-3 Schedule II controlled substance must contain:
3-4 (1) information provided by the prescribing
3-5 practitioner, including:
3-6 (A) the date the prescription is written;
3-7 (B) the controlled substance prescribed;
3-8 (C) the quantity of controlled substance
3-9 prescribed, shown numerically followed by the number written as a
3-10 word;
3-11 (D) the intended use of the controlled substance
3-12 or the diagnosis for which it is prescribed and the instructions
3-13 for use of the substance;
3-14 (E) the practitioner's name, address, and
3-15 Federal Drug Enforcement Administration number; and
3-16 (F) the name, address, and date of birth or
3-17 age[, and patient identification number] of the person for whom the
3-18 controlled substance is prescribed;
3-19 (2) information provided by the dispensing pharmacist,
3-20 including the date the prescription is filled; and
3-21 (3) the signatures of the prescribing practitioner and
3-22 the dispensing pharmacist.
3-23 (i) Each dispensing pharmacist shall:
3-24 (1) fill in on the official prescription form each
3-25 item of information given orally to the dispensing pharmacy under
3-26 Subsection (h), the date the prescription is filled, and the
3-27 dispensing pharmacist's signature;
4-1 (2) retain with the records of the pharmacy for at
4-2 least two years:
4-3 (A) the official prescription form; and
4-4 (B) the name or other patient identification
4-5 required by Section 481.074(m) or (n); and
4-6 (3) send all information required by the director,
4-7 including any information required to complete an official
4-8 prescription form, to the director by electronic transfer[, a
4-9 universal claim form customarily used by pharmaceutical service
4-10 providers,] or another [other] form approved by the director,
4-11 including a universal claim form customarily used by pharmaceutical
4-12 services providers, not later than the 30th day after the date the
4-13 prescription is filled or not later than the 30th day after the
4-14 completion of a prescription dispensed under Section 481.074(f).
4-15 (k) Not later than the 30th day after the date a
4-16 practitioner's department registration number, Federal Drug
4-17 Enforcement Administration number, or license to practice has been
4-18 denied, suspended, canceled, surrendered, or revoked, the
4-19 practitioner shall return to the department all official
4-20 prescription forms [stickers] in the practitioner's possession that
4-21 have not been used for prescriptions.
4-22 (l) Each prescribing practitioner:
4-23 (1) may use an official [a] prescription form
4-24 [sticker] only to prescribe a controlled substance;
4-25 (2) shall date or sign an official prescription form
4-26 only on the date the prescription is issued; and
4-27 (3) shall take reasonable precautionary measures to
5-1 ensure that an official [a] prescription form [sticker] issued to
5-2 the practitioner is not used by another person to violate this
5-3 subchapter or a rule adopted under this subchapter.
5-4 (m) A pharmacy in this state may fill a prescription for a
5-5 controlled substance listed in Schedule II issued by a practitioner
5-6 in another state if:
5-7 (1) a [substantial] share of the pharmacy's business
5-8 involves the dispensing and delivery or mailing of controlled
5-9 substances;
5-10 (2) the prescription is issued by a prescribing
5-11 practitioner in the other state in the ordinary course of practice;
5-12 and
5-13 (3) the prescription is filled in compliance with a
5-14 written plan providing the manner in which the pharmacy may fill a
5-15 Schedule II prescription issued by a practitioner in another state
5-16 that:
5-17 (A) is submitted by the pharmacy to the
5-18 director; and
5-19 (B) is approved by the director in consultation
5-20 with the Texas State Board of Pharmacy.
5-21 SECTION 4. Sections 481.076(g) and (h), Health and Safety
5-22 Code, are amended to read as follows:
5-23 (g) If the director permits access to information under
5-24 Subsection (a)(3)(A) relating to a person licensed or regulated by
5-25 an agency listed in Subsection (a)(1), the director shall notify
5-26 that agency of the disclosure of the information not later than the
5-27 10th working day after the date the information is disclosed
6-1 [unless:]
6-2 [(1) the person to whom the information is disclosed
6-3 requests the director to withhold notification to the agency; and]
6-4 [(2) the director determines that notification is
6-5 reasonably likely to interfere with an administrative or criminal
6-6 investigation or prosecution].
6-7 (h) If the director withholds notification to an agency
6-8 under Subsection (f)[(g)], the director shall notify the agency of
6-9 the disclosure of the information and the reason for withholding
6-10 notification when the director determines that notification is no
6-11 longer likely to interfere with an administrative or criminal
6-12 investigation or prosecution.
6-13 SECTION 5. The following Health and Safety Code sections are
6-14 repealed:
6-15 (1) Sections 481.002(51), (53), (54), and (55);
6-16 (2) Section 481.075(n);
6-17 (3) Section 481.076(j); and
6-18 (4) Section 481.0761(g).
6-19 SECTION 6. Section 40, Chapter 745, Acts of the 75th
6-20 Legislature, Regular Session, 1997, is amended to read as follows:
6-21 Sec. 40. The changes in law made by this Act relating to a
6-22 prescription written under the triplicate prescription program take
6-23 effect September 1, 1999, except that Section 481.0761, Health and
6-24 Safety Code, as added by this Act, takes effect September 1, 1997.
6-25 The director of the Department of Public Safety by rule may permit
6-26 the use of triplicate or single prescription forms during a period
6-27 of transition[, but not after March 1, 1999].
7-1 SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
7-2 SECTION 8. The importance of this legislation and the
7-3 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-4 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-5 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-6 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.