HB 1123 -- Controlled Substances Monitoring Act

Sponsor:  Cooper

This bill establishes the Controlled Substances Monitoring Act,
which requires the Department of Health and Senior Services,
subject to appropriations, to establish and maintain a program to
monitor the prescribing and dispensing of all Schedule II, III,
IV, and V controlled substances.  In its main provisions, the
bill:

(1)  Exempts a Schedule V controlled substance that contains any
detectable amount of pseudoephedrine that does not require a
prescription;

(2)  Requires the dispenser to submit electronically to the
department information regarding each dispensing of a controlled
substance and specifies the information to be included in the
electronic communication;

(3)  Requires the department to determine the frequency for
information submission, except that dispensers are required to
report at least every 30 days between the first and fifteenth of
the month following the month in which the drug was dispensed;

(4)  Authorizes the department to issue a waiver to any dispenser
who is unable to submit information electronically and allows
them to submit the information in an alternative format;

(5)  Specifies that dispensing information submitted to the
department will be confidential and will not be subject to public
disclosure and requires the department to maintain procedures to
ensure the privacy and confidentiality of patients and patient
information.  These provisions will not apply when the department
believes a violation of law or a breach of standards has
occurred;

(6)  Authorizes the department to provide program-related data to
persons authorized to prescribe or dispense controlled substances
to provide medical or pharmaceutical care for their patients; an
individual requesting his or her own information; the State Board
of Pharmacy within the Department of Insurance, Financial
Institutions and Professional Registration; any state
professional regulating board; law enforcement or prosecutorial
officials on a specific case or under court order; the
departments of Social Services, Health and Senior Services, and
Mental Health under specified conditions; and a judge or other
judicial authority under a court order;

(7)  Authorizes the department to provide public or private
entities with data for statistical, research, or educational
purposes after removing individual identifying information;

(8)  Specifies that dispensers and prescribers will not be liable
for damages as a result of accessing or failing to access the
information in the program;

(9)  Authorizes the department to contract with another state
agency or private vendor to operate the program;

(10)  Specifies that any contractor, person, or other entity who
knowingly discloses controlled substance monitoring information
will be guilty of a class A misdemeanor for the first offense and
a class D felony for a subsequent offense and will be liable for
a civil penalty to the state of up to $25,000 for each violation;

(11)  Specifies that a dispenser who knowingly fails to submit
controlled substance monitoring information or knowingly submits
incorrect prescription information to the department will be
guilty of a class A misdemeanor; and

(12)  Requires the department to establish specified education
courses for individuals who are authorized to access the program
and, when appropriate, when developing the content of the courses
to work with associations for impaired professionals to ensure
intervention, treatment, and ongoing monitoring and follow-up.

The provisions of the bill become effective January 1, 2010.

Missouri House of Representatives
95th General Assembly, 1st Regular Session
Last Updated November 17, 2009 at 9:26 am