By: Schwertner S.B. No. 404
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to complaints filed with the Texas State Board of
  Pharmacy; authorizing fees.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 555.005, Occupations Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 555.005.  RECORDS OF COMPLAINTS. For each complaint
  received by the board, the board shall maintain information about
  parties to the complaint, including the complainant's identity, the
  subject matter of the complaint, a summary of the results of the
  review or investigation of the complaint, and the [its] disposition
  of the complaint.
         SECTION 2.  Section 555.007, Occupations Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
         (d)  The board may not consider or act on a complaint
  involving a violation alleged to have occurred more than seven
  years before the date the complaint is received by the board.
         SECTION 3.  Section 565.056, Occupations Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (d) and (e) to read
  as follows:
         (b)  A rule adopted under this section must:
               (1)  provide the complainant, if applicable and
  permitted by law, and the license holder an opportunity to be heard;
  [and]
               (2)  require the presence of an attorney to advise the
  board or a board employee; and
               (3)  if an informal meeting will be held, require
  notice of the time and place of the informal meeting to be given to
  the license holder not later than the 45th day before the date the
  informal meeting is held.
         (d)  The notice required by Subsection (b)(3) must be
  accompanied by a written statement of the nature of the allegations
  against the license holder and the information the board intends to
  use at the informal meeting. If the board does not provide the
  statement or information when the notice is provided, the license
  holder may use that failure as grounds for rescheduling the
  informal meeting. The license holder must provide to the board the
  license holder's rebuttal not later than the 15th day before the
  date of the meeting in order for that information to be considered
  at the meeting.
         (e)  On request by a license holder under review, the board
  shall make a recording of the informal meeting. The recording is a
  part of the investigative file and may not be released to a third
  party unless authorized under this subtitle. The board may charge
  the license holder a fee to cover the cost of recording the meeting.
  The board shall provide a copy of the recording to the license
  holder on the license holder's request.
         SECTION 4.  Subchapter B, Chapter 565, Occupations Code, is
  amended by adding Section 565.060 to read as follows:
         Sec. 565.060.  REMEDIAL PLAN. (a)  The board may issue and
  establish the terms of a remedial plan to resolve the investigation
  of a complaint relating to this subtitle.
         (b)  A remedial plan may not be imposed to resolve a
  complaint:
               (1)  concerning:
                     (A)  a death;
                     (B)  a hospitalization;
                     (C)  the commission of a felony; or
                     (D)  any other matter designated by board rule; or
               (2)  in which the appropriate resolution may involve a
  restriction on the manner in which a license holder practices
  pharmacy.
         (c)  The board may not issue a remedial plan to resolve a
  complaint against a license holder if the license holder has
  entered into a remedial plan with the board in the preceding 24
  months for the resolution of a different complaint relating to this
  subtitle.
         (d)  If a license holder complies with and successfully
  completes the terms of a remedial plan, the board shall remove all
  records of the remedial plan from the board's records on the fifth
  anniversary of the date the board issued the terms of the remedial
  plan.
         (e)  The board may assess a fee against a license holder
  participating in a remedial plan in an amount necessary to recover
  the costs of administering the plan.
         (f)  The board shall adopt rules necessary to implement this
  section.
         SECTION 5.  (a)  Sections 555.005 and 565.056, Occupations
  Code, as amended by this Act, and Subsection (d), Section 555.007,
  Occupations Code, as added by this Act, apply only to the
  investigation of a complaint filed on or after the effective date of
  this Act. The investigation of a complaint filed before that date
  is governed by the law in effect on the date the complaint was
  filed, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         (b)  The Texas State Board of Pharmacy shall adopt rules
  under Section 565.060, Occupations Code, as added by this Act, not
  later than January 1, 2014.
         (c)  Section 565.060, Occupations Code, as added by this Act,
  applies only to a complaint under Subtitle J, Title 3, Occupations
  Code, filed on or after the effective date of this Act. A complaint
  under Subtitle J, Title 3, Occupations Code, filed before that date
  is governed by the law in effect on the date the complaint was
  filed, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.