45:1-45 Prescription Monitoring Program; requirements.

25. Prescription Monitoring Program; requirements.

a. There is established the Prescription Monitoring Program in the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety. The program shall consist of an electronic system for monitoring controlled dangerous substances that are dispensed in or into the State by a pharmacist in an outpatient setting.

b. Each pharmacy permit holder shall submit, or cause to be submitted, to the division, by electronic means in a format and at such intervals as are specified by the director, information about each prescription for a controlled dangerous substance dispensed by the pharmacy that includes:

(1) The surname, first name, and date of birth of the patient for whom the medication is intended;

(2) The street address and telephone number of the patient;

(3) The date that the medication is dispensed;

(4) The number or designation identifying the prescription and the National Drug Code of the drug dispensed;

(5) The pharmacy permit number of the dispensing pharmacy;

(6) The prescribing practitioner's name and Drug Enforcement Administration registration number;

(7) The name, strength, and quantity of the drug dispensed, the number of refills ordered, and whether the drug was dispensed as a refill or a new prescription;

(8) The date that the prescription was issued by the practitioner;

(9) The source of payment for the drug dispensed;

(10) Identifying information for any individual, other than the patient for whom the prescription was written, who picks up a prescription, if the pharmacist has a reasonable belief that the person picking up the prescription may be seeking a controlled dangerous substance, in whole or in part, for any reason other than delivering the substance to the patient for the treatment of an existing medical condition; and

(11) Such other information, not inconsistent with federal law, regulation, or funding eligibility requirements, as the director determines necessary.

The pharmacy permit holder shall submit the information to the division with respect to the prescriptions dispensed during the reporting period not less frequently than every seven days.

c. The division may grant a waiver of electronic submission to any pharmacy permit holder for good cause, including financial hardship, as determined by the director. The waiver shall state the format in which the pharmacy permit holder shall submit the required information.

d. The requirements of this act shall not apply to: the direct administration of a controlled dangerous substance to the body of an ultimate user; or the administration or dispensing of a controlled dangerous substance that is otherwise exempted as determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services pursuant to the "National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Act of 2005," Pub.L.109-60.

e. The provisions of paragraph (10) of subsection b. of this section shall not take effect until the director determines that the Prescription Monitoring Program has the technical capacity to accept the information required by that paragraph.

L.2007, c.244, s.25; amended 2015, c.74, s.3.