Medical assistants.

Existing law, the Medical Practice Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of the practice of medicine by the Medical Board of California. The act authorizes a medical assistant to administer medication only by intradermal, subcutaneous, or intramuscular injections and to perform skin tests and additional technical supportive services upon the specific authorization and supervision of a licensed physician and surgeon, a licensed podiatrist, a physician assistant, a nurse practitioner, or a certified nurse-midwife. Existing law defines the term "technical supportive services" to mean simple routine medical tasks and procedures that may be safely performed by a medical assistant who has limited training and who functions under the supervision of a licensed physician and surgeon, a licensed podiatrist, a physician assistant, a nurse practitioner, or a certified nurse-midwife. Existing law, the Pharmacy Law, prohibits a prescriber, as defined, from dispensing drugs to patients in his or her office unless specified conditions are satisfied, and authorizes a certified nurse-midwife, a nurse practitioner, a physician assistant, or a naturopathic doctor who functions pursuant to a specified protocol or procedure to hand to a patient of his or her supervising physician a properly labeled and prepackaged prescription drug. Existing law authorizes specified facilities licensed by the California State Board of Pharmacy to purchase drugs at wholesale for administration or dispensing, under the direction of a physician and surgeon, to patients registered for care at those facilities. This bill would specify that the "technical supportive services" a medical assistant may perform in those California State Board of Pharmacy licensed facilities also includes handing to a patient a properly labeled and prepackaged prescription drug, other than a controlled substance, ordered by a licensed physician and surgeon, a licensed podiatrist, a physician assistant, a nurse practitioner, or a certified nurse-midwife, as specified.