General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1182
January Session, 2011 LCO No. 4642
*04642_______JUD*
Referred to Committee on Judiciary
Introduced by:
(JUD)
General Assembly
Raised Bill No. 1182
January Session, 2011
LCO No. 4642
*04642_______JUD*
Referred to Committee on Judiciary
Introduced by:
(JUD)
AN ACT CONCERNING INMATE MEDICATIONS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2011) (a) The Department of Correction shall ensure that all medications prescribed by physicians to treat chronic conditions prior to incarceration for persons in its custody are continued during admittance to a correctional facility, while placed in such facility and during transfers to other facilities.
(b) Such medications shall continue to be administered to the incarcerated person for a minimum of thirty days from the date such person is committed to the custody of the department. The facility receiving such person shall resume appropriate and commensurate management of the chronic condition including, but not limited to, the use of appropriate therapeutic treatments and medications or their generic substitutes in accordance with state law and administrative directives issued by the commissioner not later than March 1, 2012.
(c) The Commissioner of Correction, in consultation with the Commissioner of Public Health, shall, not later than March 1, 2012, establish a system to ensure that all necessary medications are given to incarcerated persons in a timely manner while in the custody of the department. Such system shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(1) A screening staff for each facility, including any health care professional employed by such facility, who shall be trained to determine the medications for which timely continuation is an urgent matter;
(2) A process for determining which medications shall be deemed necessary;
(3) A process for contacting the prescribing physician;
(4) A process for validating the prescription;
(5) A process for checking that all medications brought into a facility are labeled to ensure that the container contains the correct medication;
(6) A process for providing a necessary medication to an incarcerated person who has been committed to the custody of the department without a supply of such medication;
(7) A process for notifying in advance a facility to which an incarcerated person has been transferred that such person has been prescribed a necessary medication and the continuation of such medication is an urgent matter; and
(8) A process for maintaining a supply of the most common necessary medications at each facility or having a physician or other health care professional licensed to prescribe medications available to prescribe such medications and with the ability to fill such prescriptions.
(d) For the purposes of this section, a "necessary medication" means any medication that, if not taken or administered, may cause death, serious illness or other harmful effects.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2011 New section
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
October 1, 2011
New section
Statement of Purpose:
To ensure that all medications prescribed for persons for treatment of chronic conditions are continued when such persons are committed to the custody of the Department of Correction.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]