88R4441 CJD-D
 
  By: Thierry H.B. No. 815
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to distinctive packaging for opioid prescription drugs.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  This Act shall be known as the Red Cap Opioid
  Safety Act.
         SECTION 2.  Section 481.074(a), Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  A pharmacist may not:
               (1)  dispense or deliver a controlled substance or
  cause a controlled substance to be dispensed or delivered under the
  pharmacist's direction or supervision except under a valid
  prescription and in the course of professional practice;
               (2)  dispense a controlled substance if the pharmacist
  knows or should have known that the prescription was issued without
  a valid patient-practitioner relationship;
               (3)  fill a prescription that is not prepared or issued
  as prescribed by this chapter;
               (4)  permit or allow a person who is not a licensed
  pharmacist or pharmacist intern to dispense, distribute, or in any
  other manner deliver a controlled substance even if under the
  supervision of a pharmacist, except that after the pharmacist or
  pharmacist intern has fulfilled his professional and legal
  responsibilities, a nonpharmacist may complete the actual cash or
  credit transaction and delivery; [or]
               (5)  permit the delivery of a controlled substance to
  any person not known to the pharmacist, the pharmacist intern, or
  the person authorized by the pharmacist to deliver the controlled
  substance without first requiring identification of the person
  taking possession of the controlled substance, except as provided
  by Subsection (n); or
               (6)  dispense or deliver an opioid not in the
  distinctive packaging required by board rules adopted under Section
  481.0761(l).
         SECTION 3.  Section 481.0761, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended by adding Subsection (l) to read as follows:
         (l)  The board shall adopt rules requiring that an opioid be
  dispensed in a bottle with a distinctive red cap or, if the opioid
  is dispensed in a container other than a bottle, in a container
  bearing a conspicuous red label.
         SECTION 4.  The Texas State Board of Pharmacy shall adopt the
  rules required under Section 481.0761(l), Health and Safety Code,
  as added by this Act, not later than January 1, 2024.
         SECTION 5.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
  to a prescription for an opioid dispensed on or after March 1, 2024.
  A prescription dispensed before March 1, 2024, is governed by the
  law in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and
  the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect immediately if it 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
  Act takes effect September 1, 2023.