(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a prescription for a controlled substance for use by a patient who has a terminal illness may be written on a prescription form that does not meet the requirements of Section 11162.1 if the prescription meets the following requirements:
(1) Contain the information specified in subdivision (a) of Section 11164.
(2) Indicate that the prescriber has certified that the patient is terminally ill by the words “11159.2 exemption.”
(b) A pharmacist may fill a prescription pursuant to this section when there is a technical error in the certification required by paragraph (2) of subdivision (a), provided that he or she has personal knowledge of the patient’s terminal illness, and subsequently returns the prescription to the prescriber for correction within 72 hours.
(c) For purposes of this section, “terminally ill” means a patient who meets all of the following conditions:
(1) In the reasonable medical judgment of the prescribing physician, the patient has been determined to be suffering from an illness that is incurable and irreversible.
(2) In the reasonable medical judgment of the prescribing physician, the patient’s illness will, if the illness takes its normal course, bring about the death of the patient within a period of one year.
(3) The patient’s treatment by the physician prescribing a controlled substance pursuant to this section primarily is for the control of pain, symptom management, or both, rather than for cure of the illness.
(d) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2004.
(Amended by Stats. 2005, Ch. 487, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2006.)
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