Florida Senate - 2019                                    SB 1700
       
       
        
       By Senator Lee
       
       
       
       
       
       20-01497-19                                           20191700__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the prescription drug monitoring
    3         program; amending s. 893.055, F.S.; expanding the
    4         Attorney General’s authority to request information
    5         for Medicaid fraud cases from the Department of Health
    6         prescription drug monitoring program to information on
    7         all cases involving prescribed controlled substances;
    8         removing a limitation that prohibits discovery of, or
    9         the introduction into evidence of, certain information
   10         in a civil or administrative action against dispensers
   11         or pharmacies in the program; authorizing certain
   12         individuals to testify regarding the authenticity of
   13         program records; amending s. 893.0551, F.S.; expanding
   14         access the Attorney General or his or her designee has
   15         to certain confidential and exempt information
   16         maintained by the department; authorizing the Attorney
   17         General to use for certain purposes all information
   18         maintained by the department whether compiled before,
   19         on, or after a certain date; providing for treatment
   20         of certain information as it relates to discovery in
   21         certain actions; providing an effective date.
   22          
   23  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   24  
   25         Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (5) and subsection
   26  (10) of section 893.055, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   27         893.055 Prescription drug monitoring program.—
   28         (5) The following entities may not directly access
   29  information in the system, but may request information from the
   30  program manager or designated program and support staff:
   31         (b) The Attorney General for Medicaid fraud cases involving
   32  prescribed controlled substances.
   33         (10) Information in the prescription drug monitoring
   34  program’s system may be released only as provided in this
   35  section and s. 893.0551. The content of the system is intended
   36  to be informational only. Information in the system is not
   37  subject to discovery or introduction into evidence in any civil
   38  or administrative action against a prescriber, dispenser,
   39  pharmacy, or patient arising out of matters that are the subject
   40  of information in the system. The program manager and authorized
   41  persons who participate in preparing, reviewing, issuing, or any
   42  other activity related to management of the system may not be
   43  permitted or required to testify in any such civil or
   44  administrative action as to any findings, recommendations,
   45  evaluations, opinions, or other actions taken in connection with
   46  management of the system. The program manager and authorized
   47  persons who participate in preparing, reviewing, issuing, or any
   48  other activity related to the management of the system may
   49  testify for purposes of authenticating the records contained in
   50  the system.
   51         Section 2. Paragraph (e) of subsection (3) and subsection
   52  (6) of section 893.0551, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   53         893.0551 Public records exemption for the prescription drug
   54  monitoring program.—
   55         (3) The department shall disclose such information to the
   56  following persons or entities upon request and after using a
   57  verification process to ensure the legitimacy of the request as
   58  provided in s. 893.055:
   59         (e) The Attorney General or his or her designee when
   60  working on Medicaid fraud cases involving prescribed controlled
   61  substances or when the Attorney General has initiated a review
   62  of specific identifiers of Medicaid fraud or specific
   63  identifiers that warrant an a Medicaid investigation regarding
   64  prescribed controlled substances. The Attorney General’s
   65  Medicaid fraud investigators may not have direct access to the
   66  department’s system. The Attorney General or his or her designee
   67  may disclose to a criminal justice agency, as defined in s.
   68  119.011, only the information received from the department that
   69  is relevant to an identified active investigation that prompted
   70  the request for the information. The Attorney General may use
   71  all information maintained by the department, whether compiled
   72  before, on, or after July 1, 2019, to pursue an investigation
   73  and civil or criminal litigation.
   74         (6) An agency or person who obtains any information
   75  pursuant to this section must maintain the confidential and
   76  exempt status of that information and may not disclose such
   77  information unless authorized by law. Information in the system
   78  is not subject to discovery or introduction into evidence in any
   79  civil or administrative action against a prescriber or patient
   80  arising out of matters that are the subject of information in
   81  the system. Information shared with a state attorney pursuant to
   82  paragraph (3)(f) or paragraph (3)(h) or by the Attorney General
   83  or his or her designee pursuant to paragraph (3)(e) may be
   84  released only in response to a discovery demand if such
   85  information is directly related to the criminal case for which
   86  the information was requested. Unrelated information may be
   87  released only upon an order of a court of competent
   88  jurisdiction.
   89         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019.