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OLR Bill Analysis
sSB 694
AN ACT CONCERNING REVISIONS TO PHARMACY AND DRUG
CONTROL STATUTES.
SUMMARY
This bill makes various unrelated changes to the laws concerning
pharmacies and drugs, including:
1. allowing the Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) to
immediately inactivate a practitioner’s controlled substance
registration if his or her license, registration, or approval of a
license to practice is inactive for more than 90 days (§ 1);
2. allowing pharmacists to prescribe an epinephrine auto injector
(e.g., EpiPen) to someone who previously had a prescription for
one, under certain circumstances (§ 2);
3. increasing from 10 to 45 days, the advance notice a
compounding facility must give DCP when it plans to remodel
or repair its sterile compounding facilities, and requiring
emergency repairs to be reported within 24 hours (§ 3); and
4. expanding the requirement that pharmacists offer to consult
with patients when dispensing medications to include
controlled substances, in addition to other drug types, and
applying the requirement to all pharmacies (§ 4).
The bill also exempts from registering with DCP as a “drug
wholesaler” (1) retail pharmacies that provide a limited quantity of
drugs for emergency stock to a hospice inpatient facility’s medical
director and (2) pharmacies within a hospital that contains another
hospital wholly within its physical structure, if providing prescribed
medications to be administered onsite to the contained hospital’s
outpatients (§ 5). Existing law provides similar exemptions for 2021SB-00694-R000108-BA.DOCX
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pharmacies (1) that provide emergency stock to nursing homes or (2)
within a hospital that contains another hospital, when the drug will be
used in the contained hospital’s inpatient unit.
Lastly, the bill makes minor and technical changes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage, except the controlled substance
registration provision is effective October 1, 2021 (§ 1) and the drug
wholesaler definition provision is effective July 1, 2021 (§ 5).
§ 1 — CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE REGISTRATIONS
The bill allows DCP to immediately inactivate a practitioner’s
controlled substance registration if his or her license to practice, or
related registration or approval, is inactive for more than 90 days.
Current law requires DCP to notify the practitioner and hold an
administrative hearing prior to taking such action.
The bill specifies that an inactivation is not a disciplinary action and
that the controlled substance registration must be reinstated without
charge if the practitioner restores his or her license, registration, or
approval to practice with the Department of Public Health or the
associated board or commission before the registration was set to
expire.
By law, a practitioner who prescribes, distributes, administers, or
dispenses a controlled substance must obtain a registration from DCP.
Practitioners eligible for the registration include physicians, dentists,
veterinarians, advanced practice registered nurses, and scientific
investigators, among others.
§ 2 — EPINEPHRINE AUTO INJECTOR PRESCRIPTIONS
The bill permits a pharmacist, in his or her professional discretion,
to issue a prescription for up to two epinephrine auto injectors if the
pharmacist:
1. confirms another pharmacy has dispensed the medication to the
patient under a prescription within the past two years; 2021SB-00694-R000108-BA.DOCX
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2. identifies the patient's primary care provider, based on
information the patient provides when requesting the
prescription;
3. informs the patient's primary care provider within seventy-two
hours after issuing the prescription (by phone, fax, or electronic
transmission); and
4. does not prescribe refills or fill the prescription more than once
per year.
The bill defines "epinephrine auto injector" as a prefilled auto
injector or similar automatic injectable equipment used to deliver
epinephrine in a standard dose for emergency first aid response to
allergic reactions.
The bill specifies that it does not prevent a pharmacist from
verifying a previous prescription at any other U.S. pharmacy,
including pharmacies in any area under U.S. jurisdiction (e.g., a
territory).
§ 3 — STERILE COMPOUNDING FACILITY CHANGES
The bill increases, from 10 to 45 days, the advance notice a
compounding facility must give DCP before it begins to remodel,
relocate, upgrade, or repair sterile compounding areas or adjacent
spaces, including:
1. remodeling an area used for compounding sterile
pharmaceuticals or an adjacent space;
2. relocating the sterile compounding area; or
3. in a sterile compounding area, upgrading or conducting a
nonemergency repair to the heating, ventilation, air
conditioning, or primary or secondary engineering controls.
The bill also requires emergency repairs made in these pharmacies
to be reported within 24 hours after they started, instead of as soon as
possible as under current law. 2021SB-00694-R000108-BA.DOCX
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Additionally, the bill makes related minor changes, including
requiring notice when secondary engineering controls are upgraded or
repaired.
§ 4 — PHARMACIST CONSULTAT IONS
The bill requires pharmacists or pharmacy employees, before or
while dispensing a controlled substance, to offer for the pharmacist to
counsel a patient on the drug and its use. Current law already requires
pharmacists and employees to do this for other dispensed drug types.
As under current law, the requirement does not apply if the (1)
person picking up the prescription is not the patient or (2) pharmacist
determines it is appropriate to make the offer in writing. A written
offer must give the patient the option to communicate in person at the
pharmacy or by telephone.
The bill specifies that the consultation requirement applies to all
pharmacies instead of only (1) hospital pharmacies, when dispensing a
drug for outpatient use or use by an employee or the employee’s
spouse or children, and (2) state-licensed pharmacies. As under current
law, pharmacists are not required to provide counseling if a patient
refuses it.
COMMITTEE ACTION
General Law Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 19 Nay 0 (03/09/2021)