32-1981. Definitions

In this article, unless the context otherwise requires:

1. " Chain pharmacy warehouse" means a physical location for prescription-only drugs that acts as a central warehouse and that performs intracompany sales or transfers of the prescription-only drugs to a group of pharmacies that are under common ownership or control. A chain pharmacy warehouse is not limited to the distribution of prescription-only drugs under this article.

2. " Company under common ownership" has the same meaning as affiliated group as defined in 26 United States Code section 1504.

3. " Intracompany transaction" means any sale, transfer or trade between a division, subsidiary, parent or affiliated or related company under the common ownership of a person.

4. " Normal distribution channel" means the chain of custody for a prescription-only drug that begins with the delivery of the drug by a manufacturer to a wholesale distributor who then delivers the drug to a pharmacy or a practitioner for final receipt by a patient. Normal distribution channel includes the receipt of a prescription-only drug by a common carrier or other delivery service that delivers the drug at the direction of a manufacturer, full service wholesale permittee or pharmacy and that does not purchase, sell, trade or take title to any prescription-only drug.

5. " Wholesale distribution" means distribution of a drug to a person other than a consumer or patient. Wholesale distribution does not include:

(a) Any transaction or transfer between any division, subsidiary, parent or affiliated or related company under common ownership and control of a corporate entity.

(b) Selling, purchasing, distributing, transferring or trading a drug or offering to sell, purchase, distribute, transfer or trade a drug for emergency medical reasons. For the purposes of this subdivision, " emergency medical reasons" includes transferring a prescription drug by a community pharmacy or hospital pharmacy to another community pharmacy or hospital pharmacy to alleviate a temporary shortage.

(c) Drug returns if conducted by a hospital, health care entity, retail pharmacy or charitable institution in accordance with 21 Code of Federal Regulations section 203.23.

(d) The sale of prescription drugs by a pharmacy, not to exceed five percent of the pharmacy's gross sales, to practitioners for office use.

(e) Dispensing by a retail pharmacy of prescription drugs to a patient or patient's agent pursuant to the lawful order of a practitioner.

(f) Distributing a drug sample by a manufacturer's representative.

(g) Selling, purchasing or trading blood or blood components intended for transfusion.