2023 Rhode Island General Laws › Title 5 - Businesses and Professions › Chapter 5-37.4 - Intractable Pain Treatment › Section 5-37.4-3. - Controlled substances.

§ 5-37.4-3. Controlled substances.
(a)
A practitioner may prescribe, administer, or dispense controlled substances not prohibited by law for a therapeutic purpose to a person diagnosed and treated by a practitioner for a condition resulting in intractable pain, if this diagnosis and treatment has been documented in the practitioner’s medical records. No practitioner shall be subject to disciplinary action by the board solely for prescribing, administering, or dispensing controlled substances when prescribed, administered, or dispensed for a therapeutic purpose for a person diagnosed and treated by a practitioner for a condition resulting in intractable pain, if this diagnosis and treatment has been documented in the practitioner’s medical records.
(b)
The provisions of subsection (a) of this section do not apply to those persons being treated by a practitioner for chemical dependency because of their use of controlled substances not related to the therapeutic purposes of treatment of intractable pain.
(c)
The provisions of subsection (a) of this section provide no authority to a practitioner to prescribe, administer, or dispense controlled substances to a person the practitioner knows or should know to be using the prescribed, administered, or dispensed controlled substance nontherapeutically.
(d)
Drug dependency or the possibility of drug dependency in and of itself is not a reason to withhold or prohibit prescribing, administering, or dispensing controlled substances for the therapeutic purpose of treatment of a person for intractable pain, nor shall dependency relating solely to this prescribing, administering, or dispensing subject a practitioner to disciplinary action by the director.
(e)
In coordination with §§ 21-28-3.20 and 21-28-3.20.1, the director of health may promulgate rules and regulations necessary to effectuate the purpose of this chapter and ensure that patients with intractable or chronic intractable pain are treated or referred to an appropriate specialist.
(f)
Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a practitioner or pharmacist from denying a prescription based on their best clinical judgment.
(g)
Nothing in this section shall deny the right of the director to deny, revoke, or suspend the license of any practitioner or discipline any practitioner who:
(1)
Prescribes, administers, or dispenses a controlled substance that is nontherapeutic in nature or nontherapeutic in the manner in which it is prescribed, administered, or dispensed, or fails to keep complete and accurate ongoing records of the diagnosis and treatment plan;
(2)
Fails to keep complete and accurate records of controlled substances received, prescribed, dispensed, and administered, and disposal of drugs as required by law or of controlled substances scheduled in the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, 21 U.S.C. § 801 et seq. A practitioner shall keep records of controlled substances received, prescribed, dispensed and administered, and disposal of these drugs shall include the date of receipt of the drugs, the sale or disposal of the drugs by the practitioner, the name and address of the person receiving the drugs, and the reason for the disposal or the dispensing of the drugs to the person;
(3)
Writes false or fictitious prescriptions for controlled substances as prohibited by law, or for controlled substances scheduled in the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, 21 U.S.C § 801 et seq.; or
(4)
Prescribes, administers, or dispenses in a manner which is inconsistent with provisions of the law, or the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, 21 U.S.C. § 801 et seq., any controlled substance.
(h)
A practitioner may administer a controlled substance prescribed by a practitioner and not prohibited by law for a therapeutic purpose to a person diagnosed and treated by a practitioner for a condition resulting in intractable pain, if this diagnosis and treatment has been documented in the practitioner’s medical records. No practitioner shall be subject to disciplinary action by the director solely for administering controlled substances when prescribed or dispensed for a therapeutic purpose for a person diagnosed and treated by a practitioner for a condition resulting in intractable pain, if this diagnosis and treatment has been documented in the practitioner’s medical records of the patient.
History of Section.
P.L. 1997, ch. 83, § 1; P.L. 1999, ch. 354, § 8; P.L. 2002, ch. 46, § 1; P.L. 2007, ch. 345, § 1; P.L. 2007, ch. 448, § 1; P.L. 2021, ch. 37, § 1, effective June 2, 2021; P.L. 2021, ch. 38, § 1, effective June 2, 2021.