An Act To Improve Access to Certain Injectable Medications for Treatment of Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorder
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 1293
Committee: Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services
Sponsors: CLAXTON
Amends: 32 MRSA §13702-A, 32 MRSA §13831, 32 MRSA §13835, 32 MRSA §13841, 32 MRSA §13843

Legislative Document
No. 1293
S.P. 413
In Senate, March 29, 2021
An Act To Improve Access to Certain Injectable Medications for 
Treatment of Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorder
Reference to the Committee on Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services 
suggested and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator CLAXTON of Androscoggin.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  32 MRSA §13702-A, sub-§2-A, as enacted by PL 2013, c. 308, §1, is 
amended to read:
2-A.  Collaborative drug therapy management.  "Collaborative drug therapy 
management" means the initiating, administering, monitoring, modifying and 
discontinuing of a patient's drug therapy by a pharmacist as authorized by a practitioner in 
accordance with a collaborative practice agreement.  "Collaborative drug therapy 
management" includes collecting and reviewing patient histories; obtaining and checking 
vital signs, including pulse, temperature, blood pressure and respiration; and, under the 
supervision of, or in direct consultation with, a practitioner, ordering and evaluating the 
results of laboratory tests directly related to drug therapy when performed in accordance 
with approved protocols applicable to the practice setting and when the evaluation does not 
include a diagnostic component.
Sec. 2.  32 MRSA §13702-A, sub-§28, as amended by PL 2017, c. 185, §1, is 
further amended to read:
28.  Practice of pharmacy.  "Practice of pharmacy" means the interpretation and 
evaluation of prescription drug orders; the compounding, dispensing and labeling of drugs 
and devices, except labeling by a manufacturer, packer or distributor of nonprescription 
drugs and commercially packaged legend drugs and devices; the participation in drug 
selection and drug utilization reviews; the proper and safe storage of drugs and devices and 
the maintenance of proper records for these drugs and devices; the administration of 
vaccines licensed by the United States Food and Drug Administration that are 
recommended by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory 
Committee on Immunization Practices, or successor organization, for administration to 
adults; the administration to adults by intramuscular and subcutaneous injection of drugs 
approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration to treat mental illness or 
substance use disorder; the performance of collaborative drug therapy management; the 
responsibility for advising, when necessary or regulated, of therapeutic values, content, 
hazards and use of drugs and devices; the ordering and dispensing of over-the-counter 
nicotine replacement products approved by the United States Food and Drug 
Administration; and the offering or performing of those acts, services, operations or 
transactions necessary in the conduct, operation, management and control of a pharmacy.
Sec. 3.  32 MRSA §13831, sub-§5 is enacted to read:
5.  Administration of injectable drugs.  A pharmacist who meets the qualifications 
and requirements of section 13832 and rules adopted by the board may administer to adults 
by intramuscular and subcutaneous injection drugs approved by the United States Food and 
Drug Administration to treat mental illness or substance use disorder under the following 
conditions:
A.  Upon the order of a practitioner to dispense and administer the drug, as long as the 
practitioner is notified after administration is complete in accordance with section 
13833, subsection 3; or
B.  While engaged in collaborative drug therapy management pursuant to a 
collaborative practice agreement in accordance with the requirements of subchapter 14.
Sec. 4.  32 MRSA §13835, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2011, c. 577, §8, is further 
amended to read:
1.  Criteria.  Criteria for the operation of a vaccine administration clinic inside, outside 
or off the premises of a retail pharmacy, rural health clinic or free clinic licensed under 
section 13751.  The rules must require one-time board approval of the plan of operation for 
any vaccine administration clinics to be operated by a pharmacist or pharmacy and may not 
require board approval of each individual clinic;.  Criteria for the administration of drugs 
by intramuscular or subcutaneous injection inside, outside or off the premises of a retail 
pharmacy, rural health clinic or free clinic licensed under section 13751 and must require 
one-time board approval of the plan for the administration of drugs by intramuscular or 
subcutaneous injection by a pharmacist or pharmacy and may not require board approval 
for each administration;
Sec. 5.  32 MRSA §13841, sub-§2, ¶D, as enacted by PL 2013, c. 308, §4, is 
amended to read:
D.  Initiate, administer, monitor, modify and discontinue drug therapy for a particular 
patient pursuant to the collaborative practice agreement with a practitioner who is 
treating the patient, as long as the action is reported to the practitioner in a timely 
manner as determined by rules adopted pursuant to section 13846.
Sec. 6.  32 MRSA §13843, sub-§6, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2013, c. 308, §4, is 
amended to read:
A.  A provision that states that activity in the initial 3 months of a collaborative practice 
agreement is limited to monitoring drug therapy.  After the initial 3 months, the 
practitioner and pharmacist shall meet to review the collaborative practice agreement 
and determine the scope of the agreement, which may after the initial 3 months include 
a pharmacist's initiating, administering, monitoring, modifying and discontinuing a 
patient's drug therapy and reporting these actions to the practitioner in a timely manner 
in accordance with rules adopted pursuant to section 13846;
SUMMARY
This bill permits pharmacists licensed within the State to administer to adults injections 
of drugs approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of 
mental illness and substance use disorder upon the order of a licensed practitioner or as part 
of a collaborative practice agreement.