| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to Broward County; defining the term |
| 3 | "pharmacy"; establishing an electronic system to monitor |
| 4 | prescriptions for specified controlled substances; |
| 5 | providing that the system shall be designed by the county |
| 6 | and approved by the Department of Health; providing that |
| 7 | certain controlled substances dispensed to county |
| 8 | residents shall be reported to the county through the |
| 9 | system; providing exceptions; providing requirements with |
| 10 | respect to the data reported and its maintenance and |
| 11 | sharing; providing that the costs of transmission may not |
| 12 | be material or extraordinary; requiring information |
| 13 | received or kept by county or others to comply with |
| 14 | relevant state and federal privacy and security laws; |
| 15 | providing that failure to report is a crime subject to |
| 16 | penalties provided by general law; providing that the |
| 17 | prescription monitoring system is conditioned upon a |
| 18 | resolution by the county commission confirming sufficient |
| 19 | funding and enactment of a specified general law; |
| 20 | providing an effective date. |
| 21 |
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| 22 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 23 |
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| 24 | Section 1. (1) As used in this section, the term |
| 25 | "pharmacy" means any pharmacy or dispensing practitioner subject |
| 26 | to licensure or regulation by the Department of Health pursuant |
| 27 | to chapter 465, Florida Statutes, which dispenses or delivers a |
| 28 | controlled substance included on Schedule II, Schedule III, or |
| 29 | Schedule IV of section 893.03, Florida Statutes, to a patient in |
| 30 | this state. |
| 31 | (2) By June 30, 2009, Broward County shall design and |
| 32 | establish an electronic system consistent with standards of the |
| 33 | American Society for Automation in Pharmacy to monitor the |
| 34 | prescribing and dispensing of controlled substances listed in |
| 35 | Schedule II, Schedule III, or Schedule IV of section 893.03, |
| 36 | Florida Statutes, by health care practitioners within Broward |
| 37 | County and the dispensing of such controlled substances to an |
| 38 | individual at a specific address within Broward County by a |
| 39 | pharmacy or dispensing practitioner permitted or registered by |
| 40 | the Board of Pharmacy. Such system shall be approved by the |
| 41 | Department of Health prior to the implementation of the |
| 42 | electronic monitoring system as contemplated in this act. |
| 43 | (3) Each time a controlled substance listed in Schedule |
| 44 | II, Schedule III, or Schedule IV of section 893.03, Florida |
| 45 | Statutes, is dispensed to an individual in the county, the |
| 46 | controlled substance must be reported to Broward County through |
| 47 | the system as soon thereafter as possible, but not more than 35 |
| 48 | days after the date the controlled substance is dispensed. A |
| 49 | pharmacy or dispensing practitioner may meet the reporting |
| 50 | requirements of this section by providing to Broward County in |
| 51 | written form or any electronic or magnetic format, including, |
| 52 | but not limited to, electronic submission via the Internet or |
| 53 | magnetic disc or tape, each controlled substance listed in |
| 54 | Schedule II, Schedule III, or Schedule IV of section 893.03, |
| 55 | Florida Statutes, which it dispenses. |
| 56 | (4) This section does not apply to controlled substances: |
| 57 | (a) Administered by a health care practitioner directly to |
| 58 | a patient. |
| 59 | (b) Dispensed by a health care practitioner authorized to |
| 60 | prescribe controlled substances directly to a patient and |
| 61 | limited to an amount adequate to treat the patient for a period |
| 62 | of not more than 72 hours. |
| 63 | (c) Dispensed by a health care practitioner or a |
| 64 | pharmacist to an inpatient of a facility that holds an |
| 65 | institutional pharmacy permit. |
| 66 | (d) Ordered from an institutional pharmacy permitted under |
| 67 | section 465.019, Florida Statutes, in accordance with the |
| 68 | institutional policy for such controlled substances or drugs. |
| 69 | (e) Dispensed by a pharmacist or administered by a health |
| 70 | care practitioner to a patient or resident receiving care from a |
| 71 | hospital, nursing home, assisted living facility, home health |
| 72 | agency, hospice, or intermediate care facility for the |
| 73 | developmentally disabled that is licensed in this state. |
| 74 | (5) The data required to be reported under this section |
| 75 | shall be determined by Broward County by regulation but may |
| 76 | include any data required under section 893.04, Florida |
| 77 | Statutes. |
| 78 | (6) A practitioner or pharmacist who dispenses a |
| 79 | controlled substance under this act must submit the information |
| 80 | required by this act in an electronic or other format approved |
| 81 | by regulation of Broward County. The cost to the dispenser in |
| 82 | submitting the information required by this act may not be |
| 83 | material or extraordinary. Costs not considered to be material |
| 84 | or extraordinary include, but are not limited to, regular |
| 85 | postage, compact discs, zip-drive storage, regular electronic |
| 86 | mail, magnetic tapes, diskettes, and facsimile charges. The |
| 87 | information submitted to Broward County under this section may |
| 88 | be transmitted to any person or agency authorized to receive it |
| 89 | pursuant to section 119.07, Florida Statutes, and that person or |
| 90 | agency may maintain the information received for up to 24 months |
| 91 | before purging the information from its records. All |
| 92 | transmissions required by this act must comply with relevant |
| 93 | privacy and security laws of state and federal government. |
| 94 | However, any authorized agency receiving such information may |
| 95 | maintain it for longer than 24 months if the information is |
| 96 | pertinent to an ongoing investigation or prosecution. |
| 97 | (7) Any person who knowingly fails to report the |
| 98 | dispensing of a controlled substance listed in Schedule II, |
| 99 | Schedule III, or Schedule IV of section 893.03, Florida |
| 100 | Statutes, as required by this act, commits a criminal offense |
| 101 | and misdemeanor of the first degree within the meaning of |
| 102 | section 775.08, Florida Statutes, and shall be punishable as |
| 103 | provided by general law in section 775.082 or section 775.083, |
| 104 | Florida Statutes. |
| 105 | (8) All costs incurred by Broward County in administering |
| 106 | the prescription monitoring system shall be borne by Broward |
| 107 | County either through federal or private grants or from donated |
| 108 | private funds. The Department of Health and Broward County will |
| 109 | cooperate in seeking grant funds at no cost to Broward County. |
| 110 | Section 2. Section 1 of this act shall take effect only |
| 111 | upon: |
| 112 | (1) The adoption of a resolution by the Broward County |
| 113 | Board of County Commissioners determining that sufficient |
| 114 | federal grants and private donations have been received by |
| 115 | Broward County to fully fund this program; and |
| 116 | (2) The enactment of a general law by the Legislature, as |
| 117 | provided in Article I, Section 24(c) of the State Constitution, |
| 118 | exempting from public records requirements information produced |
| 119 | through electronic monitoring systems for prescription of |
| 120 | controlled substances sufficient to preserve the privacy and |
| 121 | security of information required in section 1 of this act. |
| 122 | Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |