Bill Text: TX SB546 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Engrossed
Bill Title: Relating to the dispensing of certain drugs by physicians.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2011-05-18 - No action taken in committee [SB546 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-SB546-Engrossed.html
By: Deuell | S.B. No. 546 |
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relating to the dispensing of certain drugs by physicians. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 158.001, Occupations Code, is amended by | ||
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (d) to read as | ||
follows: | ||
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (d), a physician may | ||
dispense dangerous drugs to the physician's patients and charge the | ||
patients a reasonable fee for dispensing the drugs [ |
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complying with Chapter 558. Before dispensing a dangerous drug, | ||
the physician must notify the patient that the prescription for the | ||
dangerous drug may be filled at a pharmacy. A physician may not | ||
under this section dispense a Schedule II-V controlled substance as | ||
specified under Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code. The board | ||
shall adopt rules to establish a procedure for the dispensing of | ||
dangerous drugs by a physician. | ||
(d) Subsection (b) does not apply to workers' compensation | ||
insurance coverage as defined by Section 401.011, Labor Code. | ||
SECTION 2. Chapter 158, Occupations Code, is amended by | ||
adding Section 158.0011 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 158.0011. DISPENSING OF DANGEROUS DRUGS FOR WORKERS' | ||
COMPENSATION INSURANCE COVERAGE IN CERTAIN RURAL AREAS. (a) In | ||
this section, "reimbursement for cost" means an additional charge, | ||
separate from that imposed for the physician's professional | ||
services, that includes the cost of the drug product and all other | ||
actual costs to the physician incidental to providing the | ||
dispensing service. The term does not include a separate fee | ||
imposed for the act of dispensing the drug itself. | ||
(b) This section applies to an area located in a county with | ||
a population of 5,000 or less, or in a municipality or an | ||
unincorporated town with a population of less than 2,500, that is | ||
within a 15-mile radius of the physician's office and in which a | ||
pharmacy is not located. This section does not apply to a | ||
municipality or an unincorporated town that is adjacent to a | ||
municipality with a population of 2,500 or more. | ||
(c) A physician who practices medicine in an area described | ||
by Subsection (b) may: | ||
(1) maintain a supply of dangerous drugs in the | ||
physician's office to be dispensed in the course of treating the | ||
physician's patients; and | ||
(2) be reimbursed for the cost of supplying those | ||
drugs without obtaining a license under Chapter 558. | ||
(d) A physician who dispenses dangerous drugs under | ||
Subsection (c) shall: | ||
(1) comply with each labeling provision under Subtitle | ||
J applicable to that class of drugs; and | ||
(2) oversee compliance with packaging and | ||
recordkeeping provisions applicable to that class of drugs. | ||
(e) A physician who desires to dispense dangerous drugs | ||
under this section shall notify both the Texas State Board of | ||
Pharmacy and the board that the physician practices in an area | ||
described by Subsection (b). The physician may continue to | ||
dispense dangerous drugs in the area until the Texas State Board of | ||
Pharmacy determines, after notice and hearing, that the physician | ||
no longer practices in an area described by Subsection (b). | ||
SECTION 3. Subsection (b), Section 551.004, Occupations | ||
Code, is amended to read as follows: | ||
(b) This subtitle does not prevent a practitioner from: | ||
(1) administering a drug to a patient of the | ||
practitioner; or | ||
(2) supplying dangerous drugs to a patient as provided | ||
by Section 158.001(b). | ||
SECTION 4. Section 158.003, Occupations Code, is repealed. | ||
SECTION 5. (a) The Texas Medical Board shall adopt rules | ||
to implement Subsection (b), Section 158.001, Occupations Code, as | ||
amended by this Act, not later than December 1, 2011. | ||
(b) The changes in law made by this Act apply to the | ||
dispensing of a dangerous drug by a physician on or after December | ||
1, 2011. The dispensing of a dangerous drug before December 1, | ||
2011, is governed by the law in effect at the time the drug was | ||
dispensed, and the former law is continued in effect for that | ||
purpose. | ||
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives | ||
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as | ||
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this | ||
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this | ||
Act takes effect September 1, 2011. |