AN ACT Relating to controlled substances; reenacting and amending RCW 42.17.310; adding new sections to chapter 69.50 RCW; creating a new section; prescribing penalties; making an appropriation; and providing an effective date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) Each prescription for a controlled substance classified in Schedule II shall be wholly written in ink in the handwriting of the prescriber upon an official prescription form issued by the board of pharmacy. Such prescriptions shall be prepared in triplicate, shall be signed and dated by the prescriber, and shall contain the name and address of the person for whom the controlled substance is prescribed, directions for use, and the address, category of professional licensure, and the federal controlled substance registration number of the prescriber.

(2) No more than one drug may be prescribed on each form.

(3) The original and one copy of such a prescription shall be delivered to the pharmacist filling the prescription. The original shall be retained by the pharmacist and the copy, properly endorsed by the pharmacist, shall be transmitted to the board of pharmacy within thirty days of filling.

(4) Upon receipt of an incompletely prepared official prescription form, the pharmacist may enter on the face of the prescription any missing information except for the signature of the prescriber.

(5) Copies of all Schedule II prescriptions filled by the pharmacy and written by out-of-state prescribers shall be transmitted to the board of pharmacy not less often than once monthly.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. When a controlled substance classified in Schedule II is dispensed directly to the ultimate user by a practitioner other than a pharmacist, the practitioner shall complete an official prescription form and shall endorse the form in the same manner as required of the pharmacist and shall, at least monthly, transmit copies of such forms to the board of pharmacy.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. Each hospital emergency room shall maintain a record of controlled substances classified in Schedule II which are administered or dispensed to emergency room patients. A copy of this record shall be transmitted to the board of pharmacy not less often than once monthly.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. An order for a Schedule II substance for use by an inpatient in a hospital licensed pursuant to chapter 70.41 or 71.12 RCW or a state-owned institution is exempt from all requirements of section 1 of this act, but shall be in writing on the patient's record, signed by the prescriber, dated, and state the name and quantity of the controlled substance ordered and the quantity actually administered.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) Prescription forms shall be issued by the board of pharmacy in sequentially numbered groups of not more than one hundred forms each in triplicate and shall be furnished to any practitioner authorized to prescribe controlled substances classified in Schedule II.

(2) The board may charge a fee for such prescription forms not to exceed the actual costs of printing and distribution. Such prescription blanks shall not be transferable.

(3) The prescription forms shall be printed on distinctive paper and each form shall be sequentially numbered.

(4) No less than twenty-five and no more than one hundred forms may be issued at one time to any practitioner.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. (1) Every person who counterfeits a prescription form purporting to be an official prescription prepared and issued pursuant to section 5 of this act, or knowingly possesses more than three such counterfeited prescription forms, shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than one year.

(2) Every person who knowingly possesses three or fewer counterfeited prescription forms purporting to be official prescription forms prepared and issued pursuant to section 5 of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than six months or by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars or by both such imprisonment and fine.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. The prescriber shall retain his or her copy of the prescription forms issued which shall be preserved for three years. This record shall be at all times open to inspection by authorized personnel of the board of pharmacy or the department of licensing.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. A practitioner in possession of prescription forms issued pursuant to section 5 of this act whose professional license to practice or federal controlled substance registration is canceled, denied, suspended, or revoked shall, within seven days after the cancellation, denial, suspension, or revocation becomes effective, return to the board of pharmacy all of such forms which have not been used to issue a prescription.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. The official prescription form shall be retained on file by the practitioner who filled it or pharmacy in which the prescription was filled for a period of three years so as to be readily accessible for inspection or removal by an officer or employee engaged in the enforcement of sections 1 through 10 of this act. Whenever the practitioner's or pharmacy's copy of any prescription form is removed by such officer or employee engaged in the enforcement of sections 1 through 10 of this act, for the purpose of investigation or as evidence, such officer or employee shall give to the practitioner or pharmacy a receipt in lieu thereof.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. (1) The board shall not permit access to prescription information submitted to the board pursuant to sections 1 through 10 of this act to any person except:

(a) Investigators of the state board of pharmacy;

(b) Investigators of the department of licensing;

(c) Authorized law enforcement officers of the Washington state patrol, sheriff officers, and police officers engaged in bona fide investigations of suspected criminal violations of sections 1 through 10 of this act, who obtain such access with approval of an investigator listed in (a) or (b) of this subsection, who shall cooperate with and assist such peace officer in obtaining such investigative information.

(2) The system for retrieval of information submitted to the board of pharmacy pursuant to sections 1 through 10 of this act shall be designed in all respects so as to preclude improper access to information through use of automated information security techniques and devices.

(3) Information submitted to the board of pharmacy pursuant to this section shall be used only for bona fide drug-related criminal investigatory or evidentiary purposes or for investigatory or evidentiary purposes in connection with the functions of one or more of the regulatory boards which are responsible for the licensing or disciplining of health care practitioners.

Sec. 11. Section 2, chapter 107, Laws of 1987, section 1, chapter 337, Laws of 1987, section 16, chapter 370, Laws of 1987, section 1, chapter 404, Laws of 1987, section 10, chapter 411, Laws of 1987 and RCW 42.17.310 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:

(1) The following are exempt from public inspection and copying:

(a) Personal information in any files maintained for students in public schools, patients or clients of public institutions or public health agencies, welfare recipients, prisoners, probationers, or parolees.

(b) Personal information in files maintained for employees, appointees, or elected officials of any public agency to the extent that disclosure would violate their right to privacy.

(c) Information required of any taxpayer in connection with the assessment or collection of any tax if the disclosure of the information to other persons would (i) be prohibited to such persons by RCW 82.32.330 or (ii) violate the taxpayer's right to privacy or result in unfair competitive disadvantage to the taxpayer.

(d) Specific intelligence information and specific investigative records compiled by investigative, law enforcement, and penology agencies, and state agencies vested with the responsibility to discipline members of any profession, the nondisclosure of which is essential to effective law enforcement or for the protection of any person's right to privacy.

(e) Information revealing the identity of persons who file complaints with investigative, law enforcement, or penology agencies, other than the public disclosure commission, if disclosure would endanger any person's life, physical safety, or property: PROVIDED, That if at the time the complaint is filed the complainant indicates a desire for disclosure or nondisclosure, such desire shall govern: PROVIDED, FURTHER, That all complaints filed with the public disclosure commission about any elected official or candidate for public office must be made in writing and signed by the complainant under oath.

(f) Test questions, scoring keys, and other examination data used to administer a license, employment, or academic examination.

(g) Except as provided by chapter 8.26 RCW, the contents of real estate appraisals, made for or by any agency relative to the acquisition or sale of property, until the project or prospective sale is abandoned or until such time as all of the property has been acquired or the property to which the sale appraisal relates is sold, but in no event shall disclosure be denied for more than three years after the appraisal.

(h) Valuable formulae, designs, drawings, and research data obtained by any agency within five years of the request for disclosure when disclosure would produce private gain and public loss.

(i) Preliminary drafts, notes, recommendations, and intra-agency memorandums in which opinions are expressed or policies formulated or recommended except that a specific record shall not be exempt when publicly cited by an agency in connection with any agency action.

(j) Records which are relevant to a controversy to which an agency is a party but which records would not be available to another party under the rules of pretrial discovery for causes pending in the superior courts.

(k) Records, maps, or other information identifying the location of archaeological sites in order to avoid the looting or depredation of such sites.

(l) Any library record, the primary purpose of which is to maintain control of library materials, or to gain access to information, which discloses or could be used to disclose the identity of a library user.

(m) Financial information supplied by or on behalf of a person, firm, or corporation for the purpose of qualifying to submit a bid or proposal for (a) a ferry system construction or repair contract as required by RCW 47.60.680 through 47.60.750 or (b) highway construction or improvement as required by RCW 47.28.070.

(n) Railroad company contracts filed with the utilities and transportation commission under RCW 81.34.070, except that the summaries of the contracts are open to public inspection and copying as otherwise provided by this chapter.

(o) Financial and commercial information and records supplied by private persons pertaining to export services provided pursuant to chapter 53.31 RCW.

(p) Financial disclosures filed by private vocational schools under chapter 28C.10 RCW.

(q) Records filed with the utilities and transportation commission or attorney general under RCW 80.04.095 that a court has determined are confidential under RCW 80.04.095.

(r) Financial and commercial information and records supplied by businesses during application for loans or program services provided by chapters 43.31, 43.63A, and 43.168 RCW.

(s) Membership lists or lists of members or owners of interests of units in timeshare projects, subdivisions, camping resorts, condominiums, land developments, or common-interest communities affiliated with such projects, regulated by the department of licensing, in the files or possession of the department.

(t) ((~~Except as provided under section 2 of this 1987 act [1987 c 404 § 2,~~)) All applications for public employment, including the names of applicants, resumes, and other related materials submitted with respect to an applicant.

(u) The residential addresses and residential telephone numbers of employees or volunteers of a public agency which are held by the agency in personnel records, employment or volunteer rosters, or mailing lists of employees or volunteers.

(v) The residential addresses and residential telephone numbers of the customers of a public utility contained in the records or lists held by the public utility of which they are customers.

(w) Information obtained by the board of pharmacy as provided in RCW 69.45.090.

(x) Information submitted to the board of pharmacy under sections 1 through 10 of this 1988 act.

(2) Except for information described in subsection (1)(c)(i) of this section and confidential income data exempted from public inspection pursuant to RCW 84.40.020, the exemptions of this section are inapplicable to the extent that information, the disclosure of which would violate personal privacy or vital governmental interests, can be deleted from the specific records sought. No exemption may be construed to permit the nondisclosure of statistical information not descriptive of any readily identifiable person or persons.

(3) Inspection or copying of any specific records exempt under the provisions of this section may be permitted if the superior court in the county in which the record is maintained finds, after a hearing with notice thereof to every person in interest and the agency, that the exemption of such records is clearly unnecessary to protect any individual's right of privacy or any vital governmental function.

(4) Agency responses refusing, in whole or in part, inspection of any public record shall include a statement of the specific exemption authorizing the withholding of the record (or part) and a brief explanation of how the exemption applies to the record withheld.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. This act shall take effect January 1, 1989, and shall be effective for all Schedule II prescriptions written on or after January 1, 1989.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 13. The board of pharmacy is authorized to adopt rules to implement the requirements of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 14. Sections 1 through 10 of this act are each added to chapter 69.50 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 15. The sum of two hundred fifty thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1989, from the general fund to the board of pharmacy, for the purposes of this act.