Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
REGULAR SESSION
                Introduced Senate Bill 753
      By Senators Hunt, Chapman, and Martin [Introduced February 12, 2024; referred to the Committee on Health and Human Resources;
    and then to the Committee on the Judiciary]
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  A BILL to amend and reenact §30-5-7 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to
            authorizing the West Virginia Board of Pharmacy to propose a legislative rule establishing
            regulations permitting prescription of Schedule V drugs.
     Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
     ARTICLE 5. PHARMACISTS, PHARMACY TECHNICIANS, PHARMACY INTERNS
               AND                                                                       PHARMACIES.
     §30-5-7.                                   Rule-making authority.
            (a) The board shall propose rules for legislative approval, in accordance with the
  provisions of §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code, to implement the provisions of this article and §60A-2-
  201 et seq., §60A-3-301 et seq., §60A-8-1 et seq., §60A-9-1 et seq., and §60A-10-1 et seq. of this
  code, including:
            (1) Standards and requirements for a license, permit, and registration;
            (2) Educational and experience requirements;
            (3) Procedures for examinations and reexaminations;
            (4) Requirements for third parties to prepare, administer or prepare, and administer
  examinations and reexaminations;
           (5) The passing grade on the examination;
           (6) Procedures for the issuance and renewal of a license, permit, and registration;
           (7) A fee schedule;
           (8) Continuing education requirements;
           (9) Set standards for professional conduct;
           (10) Establish equipment and facility standards for pharmacies;
           (11) Approve courses and standards for training pharmacist technicians;
           (12) Regulation of charitable clinic pharmacies;
           (13) Regulation of mail-order pharmacies: Provided, That until the board establishes
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 requirements that provide further conditions for pharmacists who consult with or who provide
 pharmacist care to patients regarding prescriptions dispensed in this state by a mail-order
 pharmacy, the pharmacist in charge of the out-of-state mail-order pharmacy shall be licensed in
 West Virginia and any other pharmacist providing pharmacist care from the mail-order pharmacy
 shall be licensed in the state where the pharmacy is located;
           (14) Agreements with organizations to form pharmacist recovery networks;
           (15) Create an alcohol or chemical dependency treatment program;
           (16) Establish a ratio of pharmacy technicians to on-duty pharmacist operating in any
 outpatient, mail order, or institutional pharmacy;
           (17) Regulation of telepharmacy;
           (18) The minimum standards for a charitable clinic pharmacy and rules regarding the
 applicable definition of a pharmacist-in-charge, who may be a volunteer, at charitable clinic
 pharmacies: Provided, That a charitable clinic pharmacy may not be charged any applicable
 licensing fees and such clinics may receive donated drugs;
           (19) Establish standards for substituted drug products;
           (20) Establish the regulations for E-prescribing;
           (21) Establish the proper use of the automated data processing system;
           (22) Registration and control of the manufacture and distribution of controlled substances
 within this state;
           (23) Regulation of pharmacies;
           (24) Sanitation and equipment requirements for wholesalers, distributers, and pharmacies;
           (25) Procedures for denying, suspending, revoking, reinstating, or limiting the practice of a
 licensee, permittee, or registrant;
           (26) Regulations on prescription paper as provided in §16-5-27 of this code;
           (27) Regulations on controlled substances as provided in §60A-2-201 et seq. of this code;
           (28) Regulations on manufacturing, distributing, or dispensing any controlled substance as
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 provided in §60A-3-301 of this code;
           (29) Regulations on wholesale drug distribution as provided in §60A-8-1 et seq. of this
 code;
           (30) Regulations on controlled substances monitoring as provided in §60A-9-1 et seq. of
 this code;
           (31) Regulations on Methamphetamine Laboratory Eradication Act as provided in §60A-
 10-1 et seq. of this code;
           (32) Establish and maintain an official prescription paper program; and
           (33) Establishing regulations permitting prescription of Schedule 5 (V) drugs; and
           (33) (34) Any other rules necessary to effectuate the provisions of this article.
           (b) The board may provide an exemption to the pharmacist-in-charge requirement for the
 opening of a new retail pharmacy or during a declared emergency.
           (c) The board, the Board of Medicine, and the Board of Osteopathic Medicine shall jointly
 agree and propose rules concerning collaborative pharmacy practice for legislative approval in
 accordance with the provisions of §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code.
           (d) The board, with the advice of the Board of Medicine and the Board of Osteopathic
 Medicine, shall propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of §29A-3-
 1 et seq. of this code to perform influenza and pneumonia immunizations on a person of 18 years
 of age or older. These rules shall provide, at a minimum, for the following:
           (1) Establishment of a course, or provide a list of approved courses, in immunization
 administration. The courses shall be based on the standards established for such courses by the
 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the public health service of the United States
 Department of Health and Human Services;
           (2) Definitive treatment guidelines which shall include, but not be limited to, appropriate
 observation for an adverse reaction of an individual following an immunization;
           (3) Prior to administration of immunizations, a pharmacist shall have completed a board-
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 approved immunization administration course and completed an American Red Cross or
 American Heart Association basic life-support training, and maintain certification in the same;
           (4) Continuing education requirements for this area of practice;
           (5) Reporting requirements for pharmacists administering immunizations to report to the
 primary care physician or other licensed health care provider as identified by the person receiving
 the immunization;
           (6) Reporting requirements for pharmacists administering immunizations to report to the
 West Virginia Statewide Immunization Information;
           (7) That a pharmacist may not delegate the authority to administer immunizations to any
 other person, unless administered by a licensed pharmacy intern or registered pharmacy
 technician under the direct supervision of a pharmacist of whom the pharmacist, the pharmacist
 technician and intern have successfully completed all board-required training; and
           (8) Any other provisions necessary to implement the provisions of this section.
           (e) The Board of Medicine and the Board of Osteopathic Medicine shall propose joint rules,
 by July 1, 2023, for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of §29A-3-1 et seq. of
 this code to permit a licensed pharmacist, pharmacy technician or pharmacy intern to administer
 immunizations in accordance with definitive treatment guidelines for immunizations promulgated
 by the latest notice from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease
 Control and Prevention (CDC), including, but not limited to, the CDC's recommended
 immunization schedule for adults, children, and adolescents. In addition, the joint rules shall
 permit a licensed pharmacist, pharmacy technician or pharmacy intern to administer
 immunizations in accordance with definitive treatment guidelines for immunizations promulgated
 by the latest notice from the CDC, including, but not limited to, the CDC's recommended
 immunization schedule for adults, children, and adolescents to a person age 3 through 17, with
 written informed parental consent and there are no contraindications to that patient receiving that
 vaccine. These rules shall provide, at a minimum, the same provisions contained in subsections
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 (d)(1) through (d)(8), inclusive, of this section.
           (f) All of the board's rules in effect and not in conflict with these provisions shall remain in
 effect until they are amended or rescinded.
               NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize the West Virginia Board of Pharmacy to
               propose a legislative rule establishing regulations permitting prescription of Schedule 5 (V)
               drugs.
               Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
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Statutes affected: 
Introduced Version: 30-5-7