Friday, July 5, 2013

Washington Board of Pharmacy Legislative Changes for 2013


No. 1144 2013 Legislative Session
Washington State concluded its regular legislative session
on April 28, 2013, with the passage of several bills related to
the practice of pharmacy. The following is a list of those bills
passed into law and signed by Governor Jay Inslee. Complete
bill history is available by using the search function on the Bill
Information Web page of the Washington State Legislature.
Note: the following laws are effective July 28, 2013, unless
otherwise stated.
♦ HB 1182 – Chapter 71, Laws of 2013 amends RCW
69.41.030 to include pharmacists in the Legend Drug Act,
as authorized by a collaborative drug therapy agreement
with a prescriber.
♦ HB 1609 – Chapter 19, Laws of 2013 renames the
Washington State Board of Pharmacy to the Pharmacy
Quality Assurance Commission, doubles its members to
10 pharmacists, four public members, and adds a pharmacy technician.
♦ HB 1800 – Chapter 146, Laws of 2013  amends sections in Chapter 18.64 RCW. See article No. 1147 of this
Newsletter.
♦ HB 1808 – Chapter 133, Laws of 2013 adds a new section to Chapter 69.50 RCW. Creates requirements for
law enforcement notification and disposal in the event a
manager or employee of a retail store holding a pharmacy
license finds one ounce or less of marijuana inadvertently
left within the premises of the business. The law removes
the pharmacy, a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
registrant, from the process.
♦ S SB 5148 – Chapter 260, Laws of 2013 adds a new chapter to Title 69 RCW Food, Drugs, Cosmetics, and Poisons.
The law allows for the donation of prescription drugs
or supplies by any health care practitioner, pharmacist,
medical facility, drug manufacturer, or drug wholesaler
to a participating pharmacy. Under certain conditions,
a participating pharmacy may redistribute the donated
prescription drugs and supplies without compensation
or expectation of compensation to another pharmacy,
pharmacist, or prescribing practitioner for use pursuant
to the program. Medications and supplies donated shall
be provided to uninsured or low income individuals at or
below 200% of the federal poverty level or to others if an
uninsured or low income person cannot be identified. A
pharmacist is responsible to ascertain that the prescription
drug is in the original and sealed tamper-evident packaging or, if opened, that it is contained within a unit-dose
packaging. Additionally, the prescription expiration date
must be more than six months after the date it was donated, the prescription must not contain any medications
recalled by the manufacturer, and the prescription drug
must meet the criteria of rules set forth by the Department of Health.
♦ SB 5149 – Chapter 270, Laws of 2013 adds a new section
to Chapter 9.9A RCW Washington Criminal Code. The
law adds 12 months to the standard sentence range when a
person is convicted of first-degree robbery of a pharmacy
and the allegation is proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
♦ SB 5267 – Chapter 215, Laws of 2013 establishes a
workgroup to develop criteria to streamline the prior
authorization process for prescription drugs, medical
procedures, and medical tests, with the goal of uniformity
and simplification. This requires the insurance commissioner to adopt rules implementing the recommendations
of the workgroup.
♦ SB 5416 – Chapter 276, Laws of 2013 amends the definition of electronic communication in Chapters 69.41 and
69.50 RCW and amends sections of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act to mirror federal law (CFR Title 21,
Parts 1300, 1304, 1306, 1311) pertaining to the electronic
submission of controlled (Schedule III through V) medications to allow for this practice similar to federal law. The
law establishes that a Schedule II controlled substance
(CS) may not be filled more than six months after the date
the prescription is issued. In addition, the law establishes
that a prescription for Schedule III through V cannot be
filled or refilled beyond six months from the issue date

or refilled more than five times, unless renewed by the

practitioner. Formerly Schedule III through V prescriptions defaulted to the one-year expiration for a non-CS
prescription. Additionally, the law states that a Schedule
V  CS can only be dispensed pursant to a prescription or
directly by the practitioner with authority to prescribe
or administer. This new section supersedes dispensing
standards established in WAC 246-887-030.
♦ S SB 5459 – Chapter 262, Laws of 2013 adds a new
section to Chapter 18.64 RCW permitting a pharmacist
to dispense up to a 90-day supply of a drug (excluding
CS) with a valid prescription that specifies the initial
quality of less than a 90-day supply followed by refills,
only under certain conditions. The pharmacist must notify
the prescriber if the dosage units dispensed is increased.
♦ S SB 5524 – Chapter 12, Laws of 2013 amends RCW
69.41.030 and 69.50.101 permitting Washington State
pharmacies to dispense non-controlled prescriptions
written by physician assistants and osteopathic physician
assistants licensed in another state or British Columbia,
Canada. Washington State pharmacies may also dispense
prescriptions for CS that are written by out-of-state physician assistants and osteopathic physician assistants so
long as the physician assistants meet the same qualifications for CS prescribing as in-state physician assistants
and hold a DEA registration.

quoted from Washington Board of Pharmacy July 2013 Newsletter

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