(a) Except as provided in Section 4019 and subdivision (b), an oral or an electronic data transmission prescription as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 4040 shall as soon as practicable be reduced to writing by the pharmacist and shall be filled by, or under the direction of, the pharmacist. The pharmacist need not reduce to writing the address, telephone number, license classification, federal registry number of the prescriber or the address of the patient or patients if the information is readily retrievable in the pharmacy.

(b) A pharmacy receiving an electronic transmission prescription shall not be required to reduce that prescription to writing or to hard copy form if, for three years from the last date of furnishing pursuant to that prescription or order, the pharmacy is able, upon request by the board, to immediately produce a hard copy report that includes for each date of dispensing of a dangerous drug or dangerous device pursuant to that prescription or order: (1) all of the information described in subparagraphs (A) to (E), inclusive, of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 4040, and (2) the name or identifier of the pharmacist who dispensed the dangerous drug or dangerous device. This subdivision shall not apply to prescriptions for controlled substances classified in Schedule II, III, IV, or V, except as permitted pursuant to Section 11164.5 of the Health and Safety Code.

(c) If only recorded and stored electronically, on magnetic media, or in any other computerized form, the pharmacy’s computer system shall not permit the received information or the dangerous drug or dangerous device dispensing information required by this section to be changed, obliterated, destroyed, or disposed of, for the record maintenance period required by law once the information has been received by the pharmacy and once the dangerous drug or dangerous device has been dispensed. Once a dangerous drug or dangerous device has been dispensed, if the previously created record is determined to be incorrect, a correcting addition may be made only by or with the approval of a pharmacist. After a pharmacist enters the change or enters his or her approval of the change into the computer, the resulting record shall include the correcting addition and the date it was made to the record, the identity of the person or pharmacist making the correction, and the identity of the pharmacist approving the correction.

(d) Nothing in this section shall impair the requirement to have an electronically transmitted prescription transmitted only to the pharmacy of the patient’s choice or to have a written prescription. This requirement shall not apply to orders for medications to be administered in an acute care hospital.

(Amended by Stats. 2000, Ch. 293, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2001.)