(a) The administrative director shall make provision for no less than quarterly updates to the drug formulary to allow for the provision of all appropriate medications, including those new to the market.

(b) Changes made to the list of drugs in the drug formulary described in Section 5307.27 shall be made through an order exempt from Sections 5307.3 and 5307.4, and the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), informing the public of the changes and their effective date. All orders issued pursuant to this subdivision shall be published on the Internet Web site of the Division of Workers’ Compensation.

(c) The administrative director shall establish an independent pharmacy and therapeutics committee to review and consult with the administrative director on available evidence of the relative safety, efficacy, and effectiveness of drugs within a class of drugs in the updating of an evidence-based drug formulary, as required by Section 5307.27.

(1) The committee shall consist of six members and the Executive Medical Director of the Division of Workers’ Compensation. The committee shall consist of medical doctors or doctors of osteopathy holding a physician and surgeon license pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 2000) of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code, and pharmacists licensed pursuant to Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 4000) of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code. A committee member shall have knowledge or expertise in one or more of the following:

(A) Clinically appropriate prescribing of covered drugs.

(B) Clinically appropriate dispensing and monitoring of covered drugs.

(C) Drug use review.

(D) Evidence-based medicine.

(2) Committee members shall not be employed by a pharmaceutical manufacturer, a pharmacy benefits management company, or a company engaged in the development of a pharmaceutical formulary for commercial sale during his or her term, and shall not have been so employed for 12 months prior to his or her appointment.

(3) A committee member shall not have a substantial financial conflict of interest pursuant to standards established by the administrative director. The administrative director may, in his or her sole discretion, disqualify a potential or current member of the committee if the administrative director determines that a substantial conflict of interest exists.

(4) A committee member shall agree to keep all proprietary information confidential to the extent required by existing law.

(Added by Stats. 2015, Ch. 525, Sec. 6. (AB 1124) Effective January 1, 2016.)