Pharmacy: prescriptions.

The Pharmacy Law provides for the licensure and regulation of pharmacists by the California State Board of Pharmacy. A knowing violation of the Pharmacy Law is a crime. The Pharmacy Law requires a health facility to establish and implement a written policy to ensure that each patient receives information regarding drugs given to the patient at the time of discharge or under certain other circumstances, including the use and storage of each drug, the precautions and relevant warnings, and the importance of compliance with directions. This bill would revise that patient information provision to require that a health facility require each patient to acknowledge in writing that the patient has received this information. Because a violation of this requirement would be a crime under certain circumstances, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The Pharmacy Law establishes requirements for the substitution of an alternative biological product when a pharmacist is filling a prescription order for a prescribed biological product. This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to that substitution provision. 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.