Bill Text: CA AB1264 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Chaptered


Bill Title: Medical Practice Act: dangerous drugs: appropriate prior examination.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Passed) 2019-10-11 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 741, Statutes of 2019. [AB1264 Detail]

Download: California-2019-AB1264-Chaptered.html

Assembly Bill No. 1264
CHAPTER 741

An act to amend Section 2242 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to healing arts, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

[ Approved by Governor  October 11, 2019. Filed with Secretary of State  October 11, 2019. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1264, Petrie-Norris. Medical Practice Act: dangerous drugs: appropriate prior examination.
The Medical Practice Act provides for the licensure and regulation of the practice of medicine. The act makes it unprofessional conduct for a licensee to prescribe, dispense, or furnish dangerous drugs without an appropriate prior examination and a medical indication.
This bill would specify that an appropriate prior examination does not require a synchronous interaction between the patient and the licensee and can be achieved through the use of telehealth, as specified, provided that the licensee complies with the appropriate standard of care.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 2242 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

2242.
 (a) Prescribing, dispensing, or furnishing dangerous drugs as defined in Section 4022 without an appropriate prior examination and a medical indication, constitutes unprofessional conduct. An appropriate prior examination does not require a synchronous interaction between the patient and the licensee and can be achieved through the use of telehealth, including, but not limited to, a self-screening tool or a questionnaire, provided that the licensee complies with the appropriate standard of care.
(b) No licensee shall be found to have committed unprofessional conduct within the meaning of this section if, at the time the drugs were prescribed, dispensed, or furnished, any of the following applies:
(1) The licensee was a designated physician and surgeon or podiatrist serving in the absence of the patient’s physician and surgeon or podiatrist, as the case may be, and if the drugs were prescribed, dispensed, or furnished only as necessary to maintain the patient until the return of the patient’s practitioner, but in any case no longer than 72 hours.
(2) The licensee transmitted the order for the drugs to a registered nurse or to a licensed vocational nurse in an inpatient facility, and if both of the following conditions exist:
(A) The practitioner had consulted with the registered nurse or licensed vocational nurse who had reviewed the patient’s records.
(B) The practitioner was designated as the practitioner to serve in the absence of the patient’s physician and surgeon or podiatrist, as the case may be.
(3) The licensee was a designated practitioner serving in the absence of the patient’s physician and surgeon or podiatrist, as the case may be, and was in possession of or had utilized the patient’s records and ordered the renewal of a medically indicated prescription for an amount not exceeding the original prescription in strength or amount or for more than one refill.
(4) The licensee was acting in accordance with Section 120582 of the Health and Safety Code.

SEC. 2.

 This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the California Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to ensure patients have access to necessary health care services at the earliest possible time, it is imperative that this bill take effect immediately.
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