Bill Text: NJ S2168 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Permits dispensing of nutritional and dietary supplements by physicians.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-07-01 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Commerce Committee [S2168 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-S2168-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator NICHOLAS P. SCUTARI
District 22 (Middlesex, Somerset and Union)
SYNOPSIS
Permits dispensing of nutritional and dietary supplements by physicians.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the dispensing of nutritional and dietary supplements by physicians, and amending and supplementing P.L.1991, c.187.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) A physician shall be permitted to dispense nonprescription nutritional and dietary supplements to a patient, including, but not limited to, food concentrates, food extracts, vitamins, minerals, herbs, enzymes, amino acids, tissue or cell salts, glandular extracts, nutraceuticals, botanicals, and homeopathic remedies.
2. Section 46 of P.L.1991, c.187 (C.45:9-22.11) is amended to read as follows:
46. A physician shall not dispense more than a seven-day supply of drugs or medicines to any patient. The drugs or medicines shall be dispensed at or below the cost the physician has paid for the particular drug or medicine, plus an administrative cost not to exceed 10% of the cost of the drug or medicine.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to a physician:
a. who dispenses drugs or medicines in a hospital emergency room, a student health center at an institution of higher education, or a publicly subsidized community health center, family planning clinic or prenatal clinic, if the drugs or medicines that are dispensed are directly related to the services provided at the facility;
b. whose practice is situated 10 miles or more from a licensed pharmacy;
c. when he dispenses allergenic extracts and injectables;
d. when he dispenses drugs pursuant to an oncological or AIDS protocol;
e. when he dispenses salves, ointments or drops; or
f. when he dispenses a drug or medicine delivered to the eye through a contact lens.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to a licensed physician or chiropractic physician who dispenses food concentrates, food extracts, vitamins, minerals, herbs, enzymes, amino acids, tissue or cell salts, glandular extracts, [neutraceuticals] nutraceuticals, botanicals, homeopathic remedies, and other nutritional supplements.
(cf: P.L.2010, c.12, s.1)
3. (New section) The State Board of Medical Examiners in the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall adopt rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this act.
4. This act shall take effect on the 180th day after enactment, but the State Board of Medical Examiners may take such anticipatory administrative action in advance as shall be necessary for the implementation of the act.
STATEMENT
This bill provides that a physician may dispense nonprescription nutritional and dietary supplements to a patient. As delineated in the bill, "nutritional and dietary supplements" includes, but is not limited to, food concentrates, food extracts, vitamins, minerals, herbs, enzymes, amino acids, tissue or cell salts, glandular extracts, nutraceuticals, botanicals, and homeopathic remedies.
The bill also amends section 46 of P.L.1991, c.187 (C.45:9-22.11), which prohibits physicians from dispensing more than a seven-day supply of drugs or medicines, in accordance with certain pricing standards, to any patient, with certain exceptions. This bill stipulates that the prohibitions and pricing standards contained in this section shall not apply to a physician who dispenses food concentrates, food extracts, vitamins, minerals, herbs, enzymes, amino acids, tissue or cell salts, glandular extracts, nutraceuticals, botanicals, homeopathic remedies, and other nutritional supplements.
