BILL NUMBER: AB 1535 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 1, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 18, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bloom
(Coauthor: Senator Pavley)
JANUARY 21, 2014
An act to add Section 4052.01 to the Business and Professions
Code, relating to pharmacists.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1535, as amended, Bloom. Pharmacists: naloxone hydrochloride.
Existing law, the Pharmacy Law, provides for the licensure and
regulation of pharmacists by the California State Board of Pharmacy.
Existing law, generally, authorizes a pharmacist to dispense or
furnish drugs only pursuant to a valid prescription. Existing law
authorizes a pharmacist to furnish emergency contraceptives and
hormonal contraceptives pursuant to standardized procedures or
protocols developed and approved by both the board and the Medical
Board of California, as specified, or developed by the pharmacist and
an authorized prescriber. Existing law also authorizes a pharmacist
to furnish nicotine replacement products pursuant to standardized
procedures or protocols developed and approved by both the board and
the Medical Board of California, as specified. Existing law
authorizes a licensed health care provider who is permitted to
prescribe an opioid antagonist and is acting with reasonable care to
prescribe and dispense or distribute an opioid antagonist for the
treatment of an opioid overdose to a person at risk of an
opioid-related overdose or a family member, friend, or other person
in a position to assist a person at risk of an opioid-related
overdose.
This bill would authorize a pharmacist to furnish naloxone
hydrochloride in accordance with standardized procedures or protocols
developed by the pharmacist and an authorized prescriber or
developed and approved by both the board and the Medical
Board of California , in consultation with specified entities
. The bill would require the board and the Medical Board of
California, in developing those procedures and protocols, to
consider include procedures requiring the
pharmacist to provide a consultation to ensure the
education of the person to whom the drug is furnished, as specified
, and notification of the patient's primary care provider of
drugs or devices furnished to the patient, as specified. The bill
would prohibit a pharmacist furnishing naloxone hydrochloride
pursuant to its provisions from permitting the person to whom the
drug is furnished to waive the consultation described above .
The bill would require a pharmacist to complete a training program on
the use of opioid antagonists prior to performing this procedure.
The bill would require each board to enforce these provisions with
respect to its respective licensees.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 4052.01 is added to the Business and
Professions Code, to read:
4052.01. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a
pharmacist may furnish naloxone hydrochloride in accordance with
either of the following:
(1) Standardized procedures or protocols developed by the
pharmacist and an authorized prescriber who is acting within his or
her scope of practice.
(2) Standardized
standardized procedures or protocols developed
and approved by both the board and the Medical Board of California
, in consultation with the California Society of Addiction
Medicine, the California Pharmacists Association, and other
appropriate entities . In developing those
standardized procedures or protocols pursuant to this
paragraph, protocols, the board and the Medical
Board of California shall consider procedures
include the following:
(1) Procedures to ensure
education of the person to whom the drug is furnished, including, but
not limited to, opioid overdose prevention, recognition, and
response, safe administration of naloxone hydrochloride, potential
side effects or adverse events, and the imperative to seek emergency
medical care for the patient.
(2) Procedures to ensure the education of the person to whom the
drug is furnished regarding the availability of drug treatment
programs.
(3) Procedures for the notification of the patient's primary care
provider with patient consent of any drugs or devices furnished to
the patient, or entry of appropriate information in a patient record
system shared with the primary care provider, as permitted by that
primary care provider, and with patient consent.
(b) A pharmacist furnishing naloxone hydrochloride pursuant to
this section shall not permit the person to whom the drug is
furnished to waive the consultation required by the board and the
Medical Board of California.
(b)
(c) Prior to performing a procedure authorized under
this section, a pharmacist shall complete a training program on the
use of opioid antagonists that consists of at least one hour of
approved continuing education on the use of naloxone hydrochloride.
(c)
(d) The board and the Medical Board of California are
each authorized to ensure compliance with this section. Each board is
specifically charged with enforcing this section with respect to its
respective licensees. This section shall
does not be construed to expand the
authority of a pharmacist to prescribe any other drug
prescription medication .