STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6002 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY February 25, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. SOLAGES -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Higher Education AN ACT to amend the education law and the public health law, in relation to directing the commissioner of health, in consultation with the commissioner of education, the commissioner of mental health, the state board of pharmacy and the commissioner of corrections and commu- nity supervision, to promulgate and implement rules and regulations authorizing the use of automated patient dispensing and storage systems for distribution of prescription and non-prescription drugs and medical devices at certain facilities The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 6808 of the education law, as 2 amended by section 2 of part D of chapter 60 of the laws of 2014, is 3 amended to read as follows: 4 1. No person, firm, corporation or association shall possess drugs, 5 prescriptions or poisons for the purpose of compounding, dispensing, 6 retailing, wholesaling, or manufacturing, or shall offer drugs, 7 prescriptions or poisons for sale at retail or wholesale unless regis- 8 tered by the department as a pharmacy, wholesaler, manufacturer or 9 outsourcing facility; provided, however, that the provisions of this 10 section shall not prohibit the dispensing and/or storage of 11 prescriptions, drugs or medical devices through the use of an automated 12 patient dispensing and storage system as provided in section two hundred 13 eighty-d of the public health law and rules and regulations promulgated 14 pursuant to such section. 15 § 2. The public health law is amended by adding a new section 280-d to 16 read as follows: 17 § 280-d. Automated patient dispensing and storage systems. 1. The 18 commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner of education, the 19 commissioner of mental health, and the state board of pharmacy, shall EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD10057-01-5
A. 6002 2 1 promulgate rules and regulations to authorize the licensing and use of 2 automated patient dispensing and storage systems as provided in this 3 section which shall include, but not be limited to, requiring that the 4 operator of an automated patient dispensing and storage system holds a 5 registration from the federal drug enforcement agency for the distrib- 6 ution of controlled substances. 7 2. Definitions. As used in this section: 8 (a) "Automated drug delivery system" or "ADDS" means a mechanical 9 system that performs operations or activities, other than compounding or 10 administration, relative to the storage, dispensing, or distribution of 11 drugs. An ADDS shall collect, control, and maintain all transaction 12 information to accurately track the movement of drugs into and out of 13 the system for security, accuracy, and accountability. 14 (b) "Automated patient dispensing and storage system" or "APDSS" means 15 an ADDS for storage and dispensing of drugs to medical personnel for 16 prompt administration to patients pursuant to prior authorization by a 17 pharmacist. 18 (c) "Covered entity" means a covered entity as defined in Section 256b 19 of Title 42 of the United States Code. 20 (d) "Drug" means a prescription drug, a non-prescription drug or over- 21 the-counter medication or supply, and/or a medical device. 22 (e) "Patient" means an individual for whom medication has been 23 prescribed by any person authorized to prescribe medication pursuant to 24 article one hundred thirty-one, one hundred thirty-one-b or one hundred 25 forty-one of the education law. 26 (f) "Pharmacy" means a pharmacy which holds a registration from the 27 federal drug enforcement agency for the distribution of controlled 28 substances. 29 3. Pursuant to the rules and regulations authorized by subdivision one 30 of this section, if all of the following conditions are met, a pharmacy 31 located in the state may provide pharmacy services through the use of an 32 automated patient dispensing system to patients of a covered entity 33 through an APDSS located on the premises of the covered entity or on the 34 premises of medical professional practices under contract to provide 35 medical services to covered entity patients, which need not be the same 36 location as the pharmacy: 37 (a) The pharmacy obtains a license from the state board of pharmacy to 38 operate the APDSS at the covered entity or an affiliated site. As part 39 of the application, the pharmacy shall provide the address at which the 40 APDSS shall be placed and identify the covered entity. A separate 41 license shall be required for each location and shall be renewed annual- 42 ly concurrent with the pharmacy license. The application and renewal fee 43 shall be three hundred dollars and may be increased to five hundred 44 dollars. The state board of pharmacy is authorized to lower the renewal 45 fee to not less than two hundred dollars if a lower fee level will 46 provide sufficient resources to support the regulatory activities. 47 (b) The pharmacy providing the pharmacy services to patients of a 48 covered entity, including, unless otherwise prohibited by any other law, 49 patients enrolled in the Medicare and Medicaid programs, shall be under 50 contract with that covered entity to provide those pharmacy services 51 through the use of the APDSS. 52 (c) Drugs stored in an APDSS shall be part of the inventory of the 53 pharmacy providing pharmacy services to patients and drugs dispensed 54 from the APDSS shall be considered to have been dispensed by that phar- 55 macy.
A. 6002 3 1 (d) The pharmacy shall maintain records of the acquisition and dispo- 2 sition of drugs stored in the APDSS separate from other pharmacy 3 records. 4 (e) The pharmacy shall be solely responsible for the security, opera- 5 tion, and maintenance of the APDSS. 6 (f) The pharmacy shall provide training regarding the operation and 7 use of the APDSS to both pharmacy and covered entity personnel using the 8 system. 9 (g) The operation of the APDSS shall be under the supervision of a 10 pharmacist licensed pursuant to article one hundred thirty-seven of the 11 education law acting on behalf of the pharmacy providing services to 12 patients of the covered entity. The pharmacist need not be physically 13 present at the site of the APDSS and may supervise the system electron- 14 ically. 15 (h) The state board of pharmacy may issue a license for the operation 16 of an APDSS at an address for which it has issued another site license. 17 (i) The state board of pharmacy, within thirty days after receipt of 18 an application for an APDSS license, shall conduct a pre-licensure 19 inspection at the proposed location of the APDSS. Relocation of the 20 APDSS shall require a new application for licensure. Replacement of an 21 APDSS shall require notice to such board within thirty days. 22 (j) The APDSS license shall be canceled by operation of law if the 23 underlying pharmacy license is not current, valid, and active. Upon 24 reissuance or reinstatement of the underlying pharmacy license, a new 25 application for an APDSS license shall be submitted to the state board 26 of pharmacy, if so required by such board. 27 (k) A pharmacy that holds an APDSS license shall advise the state 28 board of pharmacy in writing within thirty days if use of the APDSS is 29 discontinued. 30 4. (a) An automated patient dispensing and storage system shall 31 collect, control, and maintain all transaction information to accurately 32 track the movement of drugs into and out of the system for security, 33 accuracy, and accountability. 34 (b) Transaction information shall be made readily available in a down- 35 loadable format for review and inspection by individuals authorized by 36 law to review such information. These records shall be maintained by the 37 pharmacy for a minimum of three years. 38 5. Access to the automated patient dispensing and storage system shall 39 be controlled and tracked using an identification or password system or 40 biosensor. A system that is accessed via a password system shall include 41 a camera that records a picture of the individual accessing the machine. 42 Picture records shall be maintained for a minimum of one hundred eighty 43 days. 44 6. The automated patient dispensing and storage system shall make a 45 complete and accurate record of all transactions that will include all 46 users accessing the APDSS and all drugs added to, or removed from, the 47 APDSS. 48 7. The stocking of an automated patient dispensing and storage system 49 shall be performed by a pharmacist. If the APDSS utilizes removable 50 pockets, cards, drawers, similar technology, or unit of use or single 51 dose containers as defined by the United States Pharmacopeia, the stock- 52 ing system may be done outside of the APDSS and be delivered to the 53 APDSS at the covered entity if all of the following conditions are met: 54 (a) The task of placing drugs into the removable pockets, cards, draw- 55 ers, similar technology, or unit of use or single dose containers is 56 performed by a pharmacist, or by an intern pharmacist or a pharmacy
A. 6002 4 1 technician working under the direct supervision of a pharmacist licensed 2 pursuant to article one hundred thirty-seven of the education law. 3 (b) The removable pockets, cards, drawers, similar technology, or unit 4 of use or single dose containers are transported between the pharmacy 5 and the APDSS in a secure tamper-evidence container. 6 (c) The pharmacy, in conjunction with the covered entity, has devel- 7 oped policies and procedures to ensure that the removable pockets, 8 cards, drawers, similar technology, or unit of use or single dose 9 containers are properly placed into the automated patient dispensing and 10 storage system. 11 8. Review of the drugs contained within, and the operation and mainte- 12 nance of, the automated patient dispensing and storage system shall be 13 done in accordance with law and shall be the responsibility of the phar- 14 macy. The review shall be conducted on a monthly basis by a pharmacist 15 and shall include a physical inspection of the drugs in the APDSS, an 16 inspection of the APDSS machine for cleanliness, and a review of all 17 transaction records in order to verify the security and accountability 18 of the APDSS. 19 9. A pharmacy holding an automated patient dispensing and storage 20 system license shall complete an annual self-assessment, performed 21 pursuant to rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this section, 22 evaluating the pharmacy's compliance with the education law and all 23 applicable rules and regulations relating to the use of the automated 24 patient dispensing and storage system. All information regarding opera- 25 tion, maintenance, compliance, error, omissions, or complaints pertain- 26 ing to the APDSS shall be included in the self-assessment. 27 10. The pharmacy shall comply with all recordkeeping and quality 28 assurance requirements pursuant to this section and article one hundred 29 thirty-seven of the education law and all applicable rules and regu- 30 lations and shall maintain those records within the pharmacy holding the 31 APDSS license and separately from other pharmacy records. 32 11. Rules and regulations providing for the implementation of the 33 provisions of this section within the facilities of all covered entities 34 shall be implemented within three hundred sixty-five days of the effec- 35 tive date of this section. 36 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.