HB 1489 -- Controlled Substances

Sponsor:  Donnelly

This bill establishes the Drug Monitoring Act in the Department
of Health and Senior Services.  In its main provisions, the bill:

(1)  Requires the department to develop a program, subject to
appropriations, to monitor the prescribing and dispensing of all
Schedule II through Schedule V controlled substances by all
licensed professionals who prescribe or dispense these substances
in Missouri;

(2)  Requires the dispenser to electronically submit to the
department information for each prescription and specifies the
frequency of the submissions;

(3)  Allows the department to 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;

(4)  Requires all submitted prescription information to be
confidential.  Exceptions to this requirement include violations
of the law or breaches of professional standards which result in
an investigation and the submission or the release of
prescription information to authorized persons;

(5)  Authorizes the release of non-personal, general information
for statistical, educational, and research purposes;

(6)  Authorizes the department to contract with other state
agencies or private vendors to implement the bill;

(7)  Specifies that dispensers and authorized persons who violate
provisions of the bill will be guilty of a class A misdemeanor;
and

(8)  Requires the department to develop an educational course
about the bill and, when appropriate, to 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 bill also adds depressants to the list of Schedule V
controlled substances and allows the sale of packages of less
than 60 milligrams of pseudoephedrine without limitations.  The
bill prohibits the selling, dispensing, purchasing, or receiving
of ephedrine, phenylpropanolamine, or pseudoephedrine by mail
order or from a mobile retail vendor in any amount greater than
7.5 grams within any 30-day period or 3.6 grams within a 24-hour
period.

The bill becomes effective January 1, 2009.

The provisions regarding the new program will expire six years
from the effective date.

Missouri House of Representatives
94th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated October 15, 2008 at 3:10 pm