_______________________________________________
SUBSTITUTE
SENATE BILL 5565
_______________________________________________
AS
AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
Passed
Legislature - 2001 Regular Session
State
of Washington 57th Legislature 2001 Regular Session
By
READ
FIRST TIME 03/05/2001.
Dispensing controlled substance orders and
prescriptions.
AN
ACT Relating to controlled substance orders and prescriptions; amending RCW
69.50.308; and repealing RCW 69.50.307.
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
69.50.308 and 1993 c 187 s 19 are each amended to read as follows:
(a)
A controlled substance may be dispensed only as provided in this section.
(b)
Except when dispensed directly by a practitioner authorized to prescribe or
administer a controlled substance, other than a pharmacy, to an ultimate user,
a substance included in Schedule II may not be dispensed without the written
prescription of a practitioner.
(1)
Schedule II narcotic substances may be dispensed by a pharmacy pursuant to a
facsimile prescription under the following circumstances:
(i)
The facsimile prescription is transmitted by a practitioner to the pharmacy;
and
(ii)
The facsimile prescription is for a patient in a long-term care facility.
"Long-term care facility" means nursing homes licensed under chapter
18.51 RCW, boarding homes licensed under chapter 18.20 RCW, and adult family
homes licensed under chapter 70.128 RCW; or
(iii)
The facsimile prescription is for a patient of a hospice program certified or
paid for by medicare under Title XVIII; or
(iv)
The facsimile prescription is for a patient of a hospice program licensed by
the state; and
(v)
The practitioner or the practitioner's agent notes on the facsimile
prescription that the patient is a long-term care or hospice patient.
(2)
Injectable Schedule II narcotic substances that are to be compounded for
patient use may be dispensed by a pharmacy pursuant to a facsimile prescription
if the facsimile prescription is transmitted by a practitioner to the pharmacy.
(3)
Under (1) and (2) of this subsection the facsimile prescription shall serve as
the original prescription and shall be maintained as other Schedule II narcotic
substances prescriptions.
(c)
In emergency situations, as defined by rule of the state board of pharmacy, a
substance included in Schedule II may be dispensed upon oral prescription of a
practitioner, reduced promptly to writing and filed by the pharmacy.
Prescriptions shall be retained in conformity with the requirements of RCW
69.50.306. A prescription for a substance included in Schedule II may not be refilled.
(d)
Except when dispensed directly by a practitioner authorized to prescribe or
administer a controlled substance, other than a pharmacy, to an ultimate user,
a substance included in Schedule III or IV, which is a prescription drug as
determined under RCW 69.04.560, may not be dispensed without a written or oral
prescription of a practitioner. Any oral prescription must be promptly reduced
to writing. The prescription shall not be filled or refilled more than six
months after the date thereof or be refilled more than five times, unless
renewed by the practitioner.
(e)
A valid prescription or lawful order of a practitioner, in order to be
effective in legalizing the possession of controlled substances, must be issued
in good faith for a legitimate medical purpose by one authorized to prescribe
the use of such controlled substance. An order purporting to be a prescription
not in the course of professional treatment is not a valid prescription or
lawful order of a practitioner within the meaning and intent of this chapter;
and the person who knows or should know that the person is filling such an
order, as well as the person issuing it, can be charged with a violation of
this chapter.
(f)
A substance included in Schedule V must be distributed or dispensed only for a
medical purpose.
(g)
A practitioner may dispense or deliver a controlled substance to or for an
individual or animal only for medical treatment or authorized research in the
ordinary course of that practitioner's profession. Medical treatment includes
dispensing or administering a narcotic drug for pain, including intractable
pain.
(h)
No administrative sanction, or civil or criminal liability, authorized or
created by this chapter may be imposed on a pharmacist for action taken in reliance
on a reasonable belief that an order purporting to be a prescription was issued
by a practitioner in the usual course of professional treatment or in
authorized research.
(i)
An individual practitioner may not dispense a substance included in Schedule
II, III, or IV for that individual practitioner's personal use.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 2. RCW
69.50.307 (Order forms) and 1971 ex.s. c 308 s 69.50.307 are each
repealed.
