(a) The commissioner shall employ inspectors whose duty it shall be to inspect all pharmacies and other places in which drugs and devices are or may be dispensed or retailed, and to report any violations of sections 20-570 to 20-630, inclusive, or other laws relating to drugs and devices and violations of laws regarding pharmacy licenses, nonlegend drug permits, licenses of pharmacists and supervision of pharmacy interns and pharmacy technicians.

(b) The commissioner shall inspect correctional or juvenile training institutions and care-giving institutions throughout the state with respect to the handling of drugs, shall report violations of law and make recommendations for improvements in procedures to the authority responsible for the operation of the institution and shall take such other steps as may be necessary to ensure proper and adequate storage, handling and administration of drugs in such institutions. The commissioner may also inspect dispensing outpatient facilities and institutional pharmacies and take such steps as the commissioner considers appropriate to correct deficiencies found in such facilities or institutional pharmacies with respect to their operation.

(c) The commissioner shall inspect each retail pharmacy not less than once every four years and shall develop a methodology to sample prescriptions dispensed by retail pharmacies for compliance with state laws concerning the dispensing of prescriptions. Such methodology shall be based on the number of prescriptions received by such retail pharmacies.

(1949 Rev., S. 4479; 1969, P.A. 593, S. 15; P.A. 77-614, S. 205, 610; P.A. 95-264, S. 8; P.A. 99-175, S. 12; P.A. 05-212, S. 3.)

History: 1969 act made employment of inspectors mandatory rather than optional, deleted requirement that inspections be made during usual business hours and included inspections of institutional pharmacies; P.A. 77-614 replaced commission of pharmacies with commissioner of consumer protection, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 95-264 deleted obsolete reference to assistant pharmacist and added Subsec. (b) re commissioner's inspection of correctional, juvenile training and care-giving institutions, dispensing outpatient facilities and institutional pharmacies; Sec. 20-179 transferred to Sec. 20-577 in 1997; P.A. 99-175 made technical and gender neutral changes and amended Subsec. (a) to replace reference to Sec. 20-625 with reference to Sec. 20-630; P.A. 05-212 added Subsec. (c) re inspection of retail pharmacies, effective July 6, 2005.

See Sec. 21a-244 re regulations concerning storage and retrieval of prescription information for controlled substances.

Annotation to former section 20-179:

Cited. 207 C. 698.