Text of (A) effective until January 1, 2021.

(A) A practitioner, or the practitioner's authorized delegate, shall review a patient's controlled substance prescription history, as maintained in the prescription monitoring program, before the practitioner issues a prescription for a Schedule II controlled substance. If an authorized delegate reviews a patient's controlled substance prescription history, the practitioner must consult with the authorized delegate regarding the prescription history before issuing a prescription for a Schedule II controlled substance. The consultation must be documented in the patient's medical record.

Text of (A) effective January 1, 2021.

(A) A practitioner, or the practitioner's authorized delegate, shall review a patient's controlled substance prescription history and history of the administering of an opioid antidote to the patient pursuant to Section 44-130-60 or 44-130-80, as maintained in the prescription monitoring program, before the practitioner issues a prescription for a Schedule II controlled substance. If an authorized delegate reviews a patient's controlled substance prescription history and history of the administering of an opioid antidote to the patient as provided in this subsection, the practitioner must consult with the authorized delegate regarding the prescription and opioid antidote administering history before issuing a prescription for a Schedule II controlled substance. The consultation must be documented in the patient's medical record.

(B) The requirements of this section do not apply to:

(1) a practitioner issuing a prescription for a Schedule II controlled substance to treat a hospice-certified patient;

(2) a practitioner issuing a prescription for a Schedule II controlled substance that does not exceed a five-day supply for a patient;

(3) a practitioner prescribing a Schedule II controlled substance for a patient with whom the practitioner has an established relationship for the treatment of a chronic condition; however, the practitioner must review the patient's controlled substance history maintained in the prescription monitoring program at least every three months;

(4) a practitioner approving the administration of a Schedule II controlled substance by a health care provider licensed in South Carolina;

(5) a practitioner prescribing a Schedule II controlled substance for a patient in a skilled nursing facility, nursing home, community residential care facility, or an assisted living facility and the patient's medications are stored, given, and monitored by staff; or

(6) a practitioner who is temporarily unable to access the prescription monitoring program due to exigent circumstances; however, the exigent circumstances and the potential adverse impact to the patient if the prescription is not issued timely must be documented in the patient's medical record.

(C) A practitioner is deemed to be in compliance with this section if the practitioner utilizes technology that automatically displays the patient's controlled substance prescription history from the prescription monitoring program in the practitioner's electronic medical record system. The practitioner must be able to demonstrate that this technology has been deployed in his practice, but no additional documentation is required in the patient's medical record.

HISTORY: 2017 Act No. 91 (H.3824), Section 1, eff May 19, 2017; 2019 Act No. 65 (H.3728), Section 4, eff January 1, 2021.

Editor's Note

2019 Act No. 65, preamble, provides as follows:

"Whereas, the South Carolina General Assembly is committed to combatting the opioid epidemic occurring within this State; and

"Whereas, the South Carolina General Assembly has enacted and is working to enact legislation aimed at stemming the misuse of opioids in South Carolina; and

"Whereas, collecting information related to opioid use and misuse helps those working to better understand the complexities of substance abuse disorders and enables those working with patients suffering from this disease to develop strategies for treatment, education, and care; and

"Whereas, the purpose of this legislation is to provide data to health care professionals treating patients who have been diagnosed with an opioid overdose and received an antidote in response to that overdose; and

"Whereas, the South Carolina General Assembly intends for the information collected pursuant to this law to be used by health care professionals to assist patients in getting appropriate treatment including, but not limited to, treatment for substance abuse disorder; and

"Whereas, the General Assembly intends further that the information collected pursuant to this law should not be used as the sole determining factor in a decision regarding whether to treat or refuse to treat a patient suffering from an opioid misuse. Now, therefore, [text of act]."

Effect of Amendment

2019 Act No. 65, Section 4, in (A), in the first sentence, inserted "and history of the administering of an opioid antidote to the patient pursuant to Section 44-130-60 or 44-130-80", and in the second sentence, inserted "and history of the administering of an opioid antidote to the patient as provided in this subsection" and "and opioid antidote administering".