Bill Text: NJ A3983 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Authorizes pharmacists to dispense up to 90-day supply of certain prescription drugs.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-06-20 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee [A3983 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-A3983-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JOSEPH A. LAGANA
District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Authorizes pharmacists to dispense up to 90-day supply of certain prescription drugs.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning prescription medications and amending P.L.2003, c.280.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 18 of P.L.2003, c.280 (C.45:14-57) is amended to read as follows:
18. a. A prescription issued by a practitioner or health care facility licensed in New Jersey shall not be filled by a pharmacist unless the prescription is issued on a New Jersey Prescription Blank bearing the practitioner's license number or the unique provider number assigned to a health care facility.
b. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection a. of this section to the contrary, a practitioner or health care facility licensed in New Jersey may utilize an electronic health record program to imprint the practitioner's name and license number or the unique provider number assigned to a health care facility on a blank New Jersey Prescription Blank for transmission to a pharmacist, provided that:
(1) any other requirements under section 20 of P.L.2003, c.280 (C.45:14-59) and any regulations adopted by the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety concerning New Jersey Prescription Blanks are met; and
(2) the electronic health record program will imprint on the blank form all such identifying information about the prescriber as is required by regulation of the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs.
c. A pharmacist may, at the pharmacist's professional discretion, dispense up to a 90-day supply of a prescription drug pursuant to a valid prescription that specifies an initial quantity of less than a 90-day supply followed by periodic refills, provided that:
(1) the prescription drug is not a controlled dangerous substance;
(2) the patient has completed an initial 30-day supply of the prescription drug, except that this requirement shall not apply if the prescription continues a medication previously dispensed to the patient in a 90-day supply;
(3) the total quantity dispensed does not exceed the total number of dosage units authorized under the prescription, including refills; and
(4) the prescriber has not explicitly indicated on the prescription that dispensing the prescription in an initial amount followed by periodic refills is medically necessary, and has not otherwise indicated that there shall be no change to the quantities authorized by the prescription.
d. A pharmacist dispensing an increased supply of a prescription drug pursuant to subsection c. of this section shall notify the prescriber of the increase in the supply dispensed using an electronic health records system or by such other means as may be required by the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety.
(cf: P.L.2009, c.297, s.1)
2. This act shall take effect 30 days after the date of enactment, except that the State Board of Pharmacy and the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety may take any administrative action in advance thereof as may be necessary to implement the provisions of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill authorizes pharmacists to dispense up to a 90-day supply of certain prescription drugs pursuant to a valid prescription.
Specifically, the bill would apply to prescriptions that authorize an initial quantity of less than a 90-day supply of the prescription drug, followed by periodic refills. The patient will be required to have completed an initial 30-day supply of the drug, unless the prescription is continuing a drug for which the patient was previously dispensed a 90-day supply. The bill would not apply to controlled dangerous substances, and would not authorize the total amount dispensed to exceed the total amount authorized under the prescription, including refills. The pharmacist will be required to notify the prescriber of the increased supply dispensed, and a pharmacist will not be permitted to dispense increased quantities of prescription drugs under the bill if the prescriber has explicitly indicated on the prescription that dispensing the medication in an initial amount, followed by periodic refills, is medically necessary, or has otherwise indicated that there is to be no change to the quantities authorized by the prescription.
Frequently, prescriptions are issued in a format that authorizes an initial amount followed by refills at specified intervals, and sometimes require that refills be authorized by the prescriber. Studies have suggested that the delays and inconvenience of this system may reduce compliance with prescription drug regimens, potentially exacerbating a patient's health condition and resulting in increased health care costs. It is the sponsor's belief that allowing 90-day supplies of certain prescription medications to be dispensed will help ensure prescription compliance and improve health care outcomes in New Jersey.
