Current Status Introducing Body:Senate Bill Number:622 Ratification Number:163 Act Number:124 Primary Sponsor:Bryan Type of Legislation:GB Subject:Physicians' assistants Companion Bill Number:4051 Date Bill Passed both Bodies:19930525 Computer Document Number:436/11193AC.93 Governor's Action:S Date of Governor's Action:19930614 Introduced Date:19930331 Date of Last Amendment:19930520 Last History Body:------ Last History Date:19930614 Last History Type:Act No. 124 Scope of Legislation:Statewide All Sponsors:Bryan Type of Legislation:General Bill
Bill Body Date Action Description CMN Leg Involved ---- ------ ------------ ------------------------------ --- ------------ 622 ------ 19930614 Act No. 124 622 ------ 19930614 Signed by Governor 622 ------ 19930610 Ratified R 163 622 Senate 19930525 Concurred in House amendment, enrolled for ratification 622 House 19930521 Read third time, returned to Senate with amendment 622 House 19930520 Amended, read second time, unanimous consent for third reading on Friday, May 21, 1993 622 House 19930506 Committee Report: Favorable 27 with amendment 622 House 19930427 Introduced, read first time, 27 referred to Committee 622 Senate 19930422 Read third time, sent to House 622 Senate 19930421 Read second time 622 Senate 19930420 Polled out of Committee: 13 Favorable 622 Senate 19930331 Introduced, read first time, 13 referred to CommitteeView additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.
(A124, R163, S622)
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 40-43-150, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO CERTAIN DRUGS THAT ONLY MAY BE SOLD ON PRESCRIPTION, SO AS TO INCLUDE THERAPEUTICALLY CERTIFIED OPTOMETRISTS AND PHYSICIANS' ASSISTANTS AMONG THOSE PROFESSIONALS WHO MAY PRESCRIBE MEDICATIONS, AND TO AUTHORIZE EMERGENCY REFILLS WITHOUT A PRESCRIPTION UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES; TO AMEND SECTION 40-47-25, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO PHYSICIANS' ASSISTANTS, SO AS TO DELETE PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE NUMBER OF ASSISTANTS A PHYSICIAN MAY SUPERVISE; AND TO AMEND SECTION 44-53-290, RELATING TO REGISTRATION FOR MANUFACTURING, DISTRIBUTING, OR DISPENSING CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES, SO AS TO AUTHORIZE THE DEPARTMENT TO ISSUE REGISTRATIONS TO NURSE PRACTITIONERS AND PHYSICIANS' ASSISTANTS FOR PRESCRIBING SCHEDULE V CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
Professionals authorized to prescribe drugs; emergency refills without a prescription
SECTION 1. Section 40-43-150 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 303 of 1992, is further amended to read:
"Section 40-43-150. (A) Except as provided in Section 40-43-155, it is unlawful for a person to sell, give away, barter, exchange, distribute, or possess in the State, except on a prescription of a licensed medical or osteopathic physician, podiatrist, dentist, nurse practitioner, therapeutically certified optometrist, physician's assistant, or veterinarian a drug, or device other than contact lenses as defined in Section 39-23-20, bearing on its manufacturer's or distributor's original commercial container the legend, `CAUTION: Federal law prohibits dispensing without a prescription' and those which, in the discretion of the Board of Pharmacy, are classified as `dangerous drugs' within the meaning of this section.
(B) The prescription must be compounded or prepared only by a licensed pharmacist, licensed assistant pharmacist, or under the direct personal supervision of a licensed pharmacist. No prescription may be refilled except upon the authorization of a licensed medical or osteopathic physician, podiatrist, dentist, nurse practitioner, therapeutically certified optometrist, physician's assistant, or veterinarian who prescribed it, except that if a pharmacist receives a request for a prescription refill and the pharmacist is unable to obtain refill authorization from the prescriber, the pharmacist may dispense a one-time emergency refill of up to a seventy-two hour supply of the prescribed medication if:
(1) the prescription is not for a controlled substance;
(2) the medication is essential to the maintenance of life or to the continuation of therapy;
(3) in the pharmacist's professional judgment, the interruption of therapy reasonably may produce undesirable health consequences or may cause physical or mental discomfort;
(4) the pharmacist properly records the dispensing; and
(5) the dispensing pharmacist notifies the prescriber of the emergency dispensing within seventy-two hours after the one-time emergency refill dispensing.
No prescription marked `PRN' or for another nonspecific number of refills may be refilled more than two years beyond the date it was written originally. Nothing in this subsection abridges the right of a pharmacist to refuse to fill or refill a prescription.
(C) This section does not apply to the sale at wholesale by recognized drug jobbers or wholesalers or drug manufacturers to pharmacists or drug outlets or licensed medical or osteopathic physicians, podiatrists, dentists, diagnostically or therapeutically certified optometrists, or veterinarians qualified to practice their professions according to the laws of this State, nor to the sale by pharmacists in drug outlets to one another. This section applies to the sale by a manufacturer, wholesaler, or retailer to a person other than those legally qualified and authorized to purchase and hold them for resale in this State."
Physicians' assistants
SECTION 2. Section 40-47-25 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 124 of 1987, is further amended to read:
"Section 40-47-25. (A) A representative of the South Carolina Academy of Physicians' Assistants has the privilege of attendance at all meetings of the State Board of Medical Examiners (board) and must be permitted to speak to matters affecting physicians' assistants. However, this representative is not a member of the board and is not entitled to vote.
(B) The board shall explore the possibility of administering its own examination for purposes of determining a physician's assistant's competency before issuing a temporary or permanent certificate. The board may impose an examination fee to cover the costs and expenses of administering this examination."
Registration of nurses and physicians' assistants for prescribing Schedule V controlled substances
SECTION 3. Section 44-53-290 of the 1976 Code, is amended by adding an appropriately lettered subsection to read:
"(j) Pursuant to the procedures set forth in Section 44-53-300, the department may issue a registration in Schedule V to a nurse practitioner certified to prescribe Schedule V controlled substances by the State Board of Nursing for South Carolina and to a physician's assistant certified to prescribe Schedule V controlled substances by the State Board of Medical Examiners. A nurse practitioner or a physicians' assistant registered by the department pursuant to this subsection may not acquire, possess, or dispense, other than by prescription, a controlled substance except as provided by law."
Time effective
SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
Approved the 14th day of June, 1993.