An act to amend Section 11165.1 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to controlled substances.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.
Section 11165.1 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:
11165.1.
(a) (1) (A) (i) A health care practitioner authorized to prescribe, order, administer, furnish, or dispense Schedule II, Schedule III, or Schedule IV controlled substances pursuant to Section 11150 shall, before January 1, 2016, or upon receipt of a federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registration, whichever occurs later, submit an application developed by the Department of Justice to obtain approval to access information online regarding the controlled substance history of a patient that is stored on the Internet and maintained within the Department of Justice, and, upon approval, the department shall release to that practitioner the electronic history of controlled substances dispensed to an individual under his or her care based on data contained in the CURES Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP).
(ii) A pharmacist shall, before January 1, 2016, or upon licensure, whichever occurs later, submit an application developed by the Department of Justice to obtain approval to access information online regarding the controlled substance history of a patient that is stored on the Internet and maintained within the Department of Justice, and, upon approval, the department shall release to that pharmacist the electronic history of controlled substances dispensed to an individual under his or her care based on data contained in the CURES PDMP.
(iii)
(I)
An individual designated by a board, bureau, or program within the Department of Consumer Affairs to investigate a holder of a professional license may, for the purpose of investigating the alleged substance abuse of a licensee, submit an application developed by the Department of Justice to obtain approval to access information online regarding the controlled substance history of a licensee that is stored on the Internet and maintained within the Department of Justice, and, upon approval, the department shall release to that individual the electronic history of controlled substances dispensed to the licensee based on data contained in the CURES PDMP.
An application for an individual designated by a board, bureau, or program that does not regulate health care practitioners authorized to prescribe, order, administer, furnish, or dispense Schedule II, Schedule III, or Schedule IV controlled substances pursuant to Section 11150
The application
shall contain facts demonstrating the probable cause to believe the licensee has violated a law governing controlled substances.
(II) This clause does not require an individual designated by a board, bureau, or program within the Department of Consumer Affairs that regulates health care practitioners to submit an application to access the information stored within the CURES PDMP.
(B) An application may be denied, or a subscriber may be suspended, for reasons which include, but are not limited to, the following:
(i) Materially falsifying an application for a subscriber.
(ii) Failure to maintain effective controls for access to the patient activity report.
(iii) Suspended or revoked federal DEA registration.
(iv) Any subscriber who is arrested for a violation of law governing controlled substances or any other law for which the possession or use of a controlled substance is an element of the crime.
(v) Any subscriber described in clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph (A) accessing information for any other reason than caring for his or her patients.
(vi) Any subscriber described in clause (iii) of subparagraph (A) accessing information for any other reason than investigating the holder of a professional license.
(C) Any authorized subscriber shall notify the Department of Justice within 30 days of any changes to the subscriber account.
(2) A health care practitioner authorized to prescribe, order, administer, furnish, or dispense Schedule II, Schedule III, or Schedule IV controlled substances pursuant to Section 11150 or a pharmacist shall be deemed to have complied with paragraph (1) if the licensed health care practitioner or pharmacist has been approved to access the CURES database through the process developed pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 209 of the Business and Professions Code.
(b) Any request for, or release of, a controlled substance history pursuant to this section shall be made in accordance with guidelines developed by the Department of Justice.
(c) In order to prevent the inappropriate, improper, or illegal use of Schedule II, Schedule III, or Schedule IV controlled substances, the Department of Justice may initiate the referral of the history of controlled substances dispensed to an individual based on data contained in CURES to licensed health care practitioners, pharmacists, or both, providing care or services to the individual.
(d) The history of controlled substances dispensed to an individual based on data contained in CURES that is received by an authorized subscriber from the Department of Justice pursuant to this section shall be considered medical information subject to the provisions of the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act contained in Part 2.6 (commencing with Section 56) of Division 1 of the Civil Code.
(e) Information concerning a patient’s controlled substance history provided to an authorized subscriber pursuant to this section shall include prescriptions for controlled substances listed in Sections 1308.12, 1308.13, and 1308.14 of Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Summary: Existing law requires certain health care practitioners and pharmacists to apply to the Department of Justice to obtain approval to access information contained in the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES) Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) regarding the controlled substance history of a patient under his or her care. Existing law requires the Department of Justice, upon approval of an application, to provide the approved health care practitioner or pharmacist the history of controlled substances dispensed to an individual under his or her care. Existing law authorizes an application to be denied, or a subscriber to be suspended, for specified reasons, including, among others, a subscriber accessing information for any reason other than caring for his or her patients.
This bill would also authorize an individual designated to investigate a holder of a professional license to apply to the Department of Justice to obtain approval to access information contained in the CURES PDMP regarding the controlled substance history of an applicant or a licensee for the purpose of investigating the alleged substance abuse of a licensee. The bill would, upon approval of an application, require the department to provide to the approved individual the history of controlled substances dispensed to the licensee. The bill would clarify that only a subscriber who is a health care practitioner or a pharmacist may have an application denied or be suspended for accessing subscriber information for any reason other than caring for his or her patients. The bill would also specify that an application may be denied, or a subscriber may be suspended, if a subscriber who has been designated to investigate the holder of a professional license accesses information for any reason other than investigating the holder of a professional license.