Pharmacy.

Existing law, the Pharmacy Law, provides for the licensure and regulation of pharmacies, including hospital pharmacies, by the California State Board of Pharmacy, and makes a knowing violation of that law a crime. Existing law prohibits the operation of a pharmacy without a license and a separate license is required for each pharmacy location. Under existing law, a hospital pharmacy, as defined, includes a pharmacy located outside of the hospital in another physical plant. However, as a condition of licensure by the board for these pharmacies, pharmaceutical services may only be provided to registered hospital patients who are on the premises of the same physical plant in which the pharmacy is located and those services must be directly related to the services or treatment plan administered in the physical plant. Existing law imposes various requirements on manufacturers, as defined, and states that a manufacturer does not mean a pharmacy compounding a drug for parenteral therapy, pursuant to a prescription, for delivery to another pharmacy for the purpose of delivering or administering the drug to the patient or patients, provided that neither the components for the drug nor the drug are compounded, fabricated, packaged, or otherwise prepared prior to receipt of the prescription. This bill would provide that a hospital pharmacy also includes a pharmacy, licensed by the board, that may be located outside of the hospital in either another physical plant on the same premises or on a separate premises, located within a 100-mile radius of the hospital, that is regulated under a hospital's license. The bill would eliminate the conditions of licensure by the board that limit the services provided by the pharmacy in the other physical plant, but would require that any unit-dose medication produced by a hospital pharmacy under common ownership be barcoded to be readable at the patient's bedside. The bill would authorize a hospital pharmacy to prepare and store a limited quantity of unit-dose medications in advance of a patient-specific prescription under certain circumstances. The bill would also provide that a "manufacturer" does not mean a pharmacy compounding or repackaging a drug for parenteral therapy or oral therapy in a hospital for delivery to another pharmacy or hospital under common ownership in order to dispense or administer the drug to the patient or patients pursuant to a prescription or order. The bill would require a pharmacy compounding or repackaging a drug pursuant to this provision to notify the board of the location of the compounding or repackaging within a specified period of time. Because a knowing violation of the bill's requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.