PRINTER'S NO. 37
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No.
58
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY GREENLEAF, STACK, SCHWANK, FONTANA, BOSCOLA AND
VULAKOVICH, JANUARY 14, 2015
REFERRED TO CONSUMER PROTECTION AND PROFESSIONAL LICENSURE,
JANUARY 14, 2015
AN ACT
Amending the act of September 27, 1961 (P.L.1700, No.699),
entitled "An act relating to the regulation of the practice
of pharmacy, including the sales, use and distribution of
drugs and devices at retail; and amending, revising,
consolidating and repealing certain laws relating thereto,"
further providing for refusal to grant and revocation and
suspension of licenses; and providing for the donation of
unused prescription drugs.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 5(a)(9) of the act of September 27, 1961
(P.L.1700, No.699), known as the Pharmacy Act, amended June 1,
2010 (P.L.201, No.29), is amended to read:
Section 5. Refusal to Grant, Revocation and Suspension.--(a)
The board shall have the power to refuse, revoke or suspend the
license of any pharmacist upon proof satisfactory to it that the
pharmacist:
* * *
(9) Is guilty of grossly unprofessional conduct. The
following acts on the part of a pharmacist are hereby declared
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to constitute grossly unprofessional conduct of a pharmacist:
(i) Willfully deceiving or attempting to deceive the State
Board of Pharmacy or its agents with respect to any material
matter under investigation by the board;
(ii) Advertising of prices for drugs and pharmaceutical
services to the public which does not conform to Federal laws or
regulations;
(iii) The public assertion or implication of professional
superiority in the practice of pharmacy;
(iv) The engaging by any means in untrue, false, misleading
or deceptive advertising of drugs or devices;
(v) Paying rebates to physicians or any other persons, or
the entering into any agreement with a medical practitioner or
any other person for the payment or acceptance of compensation
in any form for the recommending of the professional services of
either party;
(vi) The entering into of any agreement with a licensed
medical practitioner for the compounding or dispensing of secret
formula (coded), prescriptions;
(vii) The misbranding or adulteration of any drug or device
and the sale, distribution or dispensing of any misbranded or
adulterated drug or device as defined in the act of April 14,
1972 (P.L.233, No.64), known as "The Controlled Substance, Drug,
Device and Cosmetic Act";
(viii) Engaging in the sale or purchase of drugs or devices
whose package bears the inscription "sample" or "not for
resale";
(ix) Displaying or permitting the display of his certificate
of licensure and biennial registration document in a pharmacy of
which he is not the proprietor or in which he is not employed;
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(x) Any holder of a biennial pocket registration card who
fails to have the card available for inspection by an authorized
agent when he is practicing;
(xi) The acceptance back and redistribution of any unused
drug, or a part thereof, except as authorized under section 9.5,
after it has left the premises of any pharmacy, whether issued
by mistake or otherwise, unless it is in the original sealed
container with the name, lot number and expiration date on the
original intact manufacturer's label. The pharmacy shall
maintain records of all such returns, and a full refund shall be
given to the original purchaser, including a third-party payor;
(xii) Accepting employment as a pharmacist, or share or
receive compensation in any form arising out of, or incidental
to, his professional activities from any medical practitioner or
any other person or corporation in which one or more medical
practitioners have a proprietary or beneficial interest
sufficient to permit them to exercise supervision or control
over the pharmacist in his professional responsibilities and
duties, except that a pharmacist may be employed by a physician
for the purpose of the management of drug therapy and receive
appropriate compensation for such employment, but not engage in
retail dispensing while in health care practice within the
context of such employment;
(xiii) Accepting employment as a pharmacist, or share or
receive compensation in any form arising out of, or incidental
to, his professional activities from any person who orders said
pharmacist, directly or indirectly, to engage in any aspect of
the practice of pharmacy in contravention of any provision of
this act, except that a pharmacist may be employed by a
physician for the purpose of the management of drug therapy and
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receive appropriate compensation for such employment, but not
engage in retail dispensing while in the health care practice
within the context of such employment;
(xiv) Entering into an arrangement with a medical
practitioner who is licensed to issue prescriptions for the
purpose of directing or diverting patients to or from a
specified pharmacy or restraining a patient's freedom of choice
to select a pharmacy, except that this shall not be construed to
prohibit a pharmacist from entering into a written agreement or
written collaborative agreement with a licensed physician which
authorizes the management of drug therapy.
* * *
Section 2. The act is amended by adding a section to read:
Section 9.5. Donation of Unused Prescription Drugs.--(a)
The Department of Health, the board and the Health Care Cost
Containment Council shall jointly develop and implement a pilot
program consistent with public health and safety through which
unused prescription drugs, other than drugs that are controlled
dangerous substances, may be transferred from long-term care
nursing facilities, as defined in section 802.1 of the act of
July 19, 1979 (P.L.130, No.48), known as the "Health Care
Facilities Act," to pharmacies operated by the Commonwealth for
the purpose of distributing the prescription drugs to residents
who are medically indigent.
(b) The Department of Health, the board, the Health Care
Cost Containment Council, the State Board of Medicine and the
State Board of Osteopathic Medicine shall review and evaluate
the program no later than eighteen months after its
implementation and shall submit a report and any recommendations
to the Governor, the President pro tempore of the Senate, the
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Speaker of the House of Representatives and the chairmen of the
appropriate legislative committees.
(c) The Department of Health, the board and the Health Care
Cost Containment Council shall promulgate rules and establish
procedures necessary to implement the program established by
this section. The rules and procedures shall provide:
(1) For a formulary for the medications to be distributed
pursuant to the program.
(2) For the protection of the privacy of the individual for
whom the medication was originally prescribed.
(3) For the integrity and safe storage and safe transfer of
the medication, which may include, but shall not be limited to,
limiting the drugs made available through the program to those
that were originally dispensed by unit dose or an individually
sealed dose or which remain in intact packaging.
(4) For the tracking of and accountability for the
medications.
(5) For other matters necessary for the implementation of
the program.
(d) In accordance with the rules and procedures of a program
established pursuant to this section, the resident of a nursing
facility or the representative or guardian of a resident may
donate unused prescription drugs, other than prescription drugs
that are controlled dangerous substances or prescription drugs
that can only be dispensed to a patient registered with the drug
manufacturer in accordance with Food and Drug Administration
requirements, for dispensation to residents who are medically
indigent.
(e) No long-term care nursing facility, physician,
pharmacist and other health care professional shall be subject
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to liability for participation in the program established by
this section when acting within the scope of practice of his
license and in good faith compliance with the rules promulgated
under this section.
(f) For purposes of this section, " persons who are medically
indigent " means persons who have no health insurance or who
otherwise lack reasonable means to purchase prescribed
medications.
Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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