Amend CSSB 1188 by adding the following appropriately
numbered section to the bill and renumbering existing sections
accordingly:
SECTION __. (a) Sections 481.074(o) and (p), Health and
Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
(o) A pharmacist may dispense a Schedule II controlled
substance pursuant to a facsimile copy of an official prescription
completed in the manner required by Section 481.075 and transmitted
by the practitioner or the practitioner's agent to the pharmacy if:
(1) the prescription is written for:
(A) a Schedule II narcotic or nonnarcotic
substance for a patient in a long-term care facility (LTCF), and the
practitioner notes on the prescription "LTCF patient";
(B) a Schedule II narcotic product to be
compounded for the direct administration to a patient by
parenteral, intravenous, intramuscular, subcutaneous, or
intraspinal infusion; or
(C) a Schedule II narcotic substance for a
patient with a medical diagnosis documenting a terminal illness or
a patient enrolled in a hospice care program certified or paid for
by Medicare under Title XVIII, Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
Section 1395 et seq.), as amended, by Medicaid, or by a hospice
program that is licensed under Chapter 142, and the practitioner or
the practitioner's agent notes on the prescription "terminally ill"
or "hospice patient"; and
(2) after transmitting the prescription, the
prescribing practitioner or the practitioner's agent:
(A) writes across the face of the official
prescription "VOID--sent by fax to (name and telephone number of
receiving pharmacy)"; and
(B) files the official prescription in the
patient's medical records instead of delivering it to the patient
[promptly complies with Subsection (p)].
(p) [Not later than the seventh day after the date a
prescribing practitioner transmits the facsimile copy of the
official prescription to the pharmacy, the prescribing
practitioner shall deliver in person or mail the official written
prescription to the dispensing pharmacist at the pharmacy where the
prescription was dispensed. The envelope of a prescription
delivered by mail must be postmarked not later than the seventh day
after the date the official prescription was written.] On receipt
of the prescription, the dispensing pharmacy shall file the
facsimile copy of the prescription [with the official prescription]
and shall send information to the director as required by Section
481.075.
(b) This section takes effect immediately if this Act
receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
effect, this section takes effect September 1, 2005.