During the 2013-2014 legislative session, PVMA advocated on your behalf as 5 separate legislative proposals made their way through the legislative process related to different versions of proposed prescription drug monitoring programs.
Of the 5 legislative bills related to this issue, 4 of them would have required veterinarians to report as a dispenser and/or prescriber under the program. However, PVMA worked diligently with Senator Patricia Vance and her staff to develop a bill that would exempt veterinarians from this arduous process that which would have cost veterinary practices unnecessary time and money to put measures in place to track the required information – much of which is not information easily or regularly gathered by practices about their clients. Thanks to the excellent work of Senator Vance and PVMA, the bill exempting veterinarians was the one that was passed into law as Act 191 of 2014 on October 27, 2014.
According to Act 191, a dispenser is a person licensed to dispense in this Commonwealth, including mail order and internet sales of pharmaceuticals.
This term does not include any of the following:
- A licensed health care facility that distributes the controlled substance for the purpose of administration in the licensed health care facility.
- A correctional facility or its contractors if the confined person cannot lawfully visit a prescriber outside the correctional facility without being escorted by a corrections officer.
- An authorized person who administers a controlled substance, other drug or device.
- A wholesale distributor of a controlled substance.
- A licensed provider in the LIFE program.
- A provider of hospice as defined in the act of July 19, 1979 (P.L.130, No.48), known as the Health Care Facilities Act.
- A prescriber at a licensed health care facility if the quantity of controlled substances dispensed is limited to an amount adequate to treat the patient for a maximum of five days and does not allow for a refill.
- A veterinarian.
According to Act 191 of 2014, a prescriber is a person who is licensed, registered or otherwise lawfully authorized to distribute, dispense or administer a controlled substance, other drug or device in the course of professional practice or research in this Commonwealth. The term does not include a veterinarian.