SB 233 - This act establishes the Prescription Drug Monitoring Act. The Department of Health and Senior Services is required to establish and maintain a program to monitor the prescribing and dispensing of all Schedule II through Schedule IV controlled substances by all licensed professionals who prescribe or dispense these substances in Missouri. The provisions of this act shall be funded with federal or private moneys. A dispenser shall electronically submit to the department information for each prescription and specify the frequency of the submissions. The department may issue a waiver to a dispenser who is unable to submit the required information electronically. If a waiver is obtained, a dispenser can submit the required information in paper format or by other approved means. The department shall reimburse each dispenser for the fees and other direct costs of transmitting the information required by this act.
All submitted prescription information shall be kept confidential with specified exceptions. This act authorizes the release of non-personal, general information for statistical, educational, and research purposes. The department shall review the dispensation information and, if there is reasonable cause to believe a violation of law or breach of professional standards may have occurred, the department shall notify the appropriate law enforcement or professional regulatory entity and provide dispensation information required for an investigation.
Dispensers who knowingly fail to submit the required information or who knowingly submit incorrect dispensation information shall be subject to a $1,000 administrative penalty per violation. Any persons authorized to have dispensation information who knowingly disclose such information or who use it in a manner and for a purpose in violation of the act shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
The department shall create and implement an educational course regarding the provisions of this act and, when appropriate, shall work with associations for impaired professionals to ensure the intervention, treatment, and ongoing monitoring of patients who have been identified as being addicted to substances monitored by the bill.
The Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous drugs within the department shall establish, beginning January 1, 2015, a two -year statewide pilot project for the reporting of fraudulently obtained prescription controlled substances. The bureau shall submit on or before February 1, 2015, a report to the General Assembly detailing the specified information regarding the pilot project.
The provisions of the act regarding the pilot project shall expire three years from the effective date and the other provisions of the act shall expire six years from the effective date of this act.
ADRIANE CROUSE