Pharmacy.

(1) The Pharmacy Law provides for the licensing and regulation of pharmacists and pharmacies by the California State Board of Pharmacy in the Department of Consumer Affairs. That law authorizes a pharmacy technician trainee to be placed in a pharmacy to complete an externship for the purpose of obtaining practical training required to become licensed as a pharmacist. That law prohibits the externship from being for a period of more than 120 hours, except if a pharmacy technician trainee's externship involves the rotation between a community pharmacy and a hospital pharmacy, in which case the externship is authorized to be for a period of up to 320 hours. That law prohibits more than 120 hours of the 320 hours from being completed in a community pharmacy setting or in a single department in a hospital pharmacy. This bill would instead require the externship to be for a period of no fewer than 120 hours and no more than 140 hours. The bill would increase the period for an externship that involves the rotation between a community pharmacy and a hospital pharmacy to 340 hours and would delete the prohibition that no more than 120 hours be completed in a community pharmacy setting or in a single department in a hospital pharmacy. (2) The Pharmacy Law prohibits a manufacturer, wholesaler, repackager, or pharmacy from furnishing a dangerous drug or dangerous device to an unauthorized person and requires all dangerous drugs or dangerous devices to be acquired from a person authorized by law to possess or furnish that dangerous drug or dangerous device. This bill would, upon approval of the board, authorize a reverse distributor licensed as a wholesaler to acquire dangerous drugs or dangerous devices from specified unlicensed sources for the sole purpose of destruction of the dangerous drugs or dangerous devices. (3) The Pharmacy Law authorizes the board to license as a pharmacist an applicant who meets specified requirements, including that the applicant has passed the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) and the California Practice Standards and Jurisprudence Examination for Pharmacists (CPJE) on or after January 1, 2004. This bill would instead require that the applicant has passed a version of the CPJE that, at the time of application for licensure, was based on a specified occupational analysis and that the applicant has either passed the NAPLEX on or after January 1, 2004, and holds a specified active pharmacist license or has passed the NAPLEX that, at the time of application for licensure, was based on a specified occupational analysis. (4) The Pharmacy Law prohibits the board from renewing a pharmacist license unless the applicant submits proof of completion of 30 hours of approved courses of continuing pharmacy education during the prior 2 years, unless an exception applies. That law authorizes the board to recognize an advanced practice pharmacist when specified requirements are met, including holding an active license to practice pharmacy in the state and completing additional certifications or residencies, as provided. That law requires the board to set the fee for issuance and renewal of an advanced practice pharmacist recognition, and requires an advanced practice pharmacist to complete 10 additional hours of continuing education to be eligible for renewal of that recognition. That law makes a violation of these provisions a crime. This bill would require an applicant for renewal of an advanced practice pharmacist recognition to maintain a current and active pharmacy license and to submit, among other things, satisfactory proof to the board that the applicant completed 10 additional hours of continuing education, unless an exception applies. The bill would authorize the board to issue inactive advanced practice pharmacist recognitions under certain circumstances, and would prohibit the board from reactivating an inactive advanced practice pharmacist recognition unless the pharmacist meets all renewal requirements. Because a violation of these provisions would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (5) The Pharmacy Law also provides for the licensure and regulation by the California State Board of Pharmacy of wholesalers or third-party logistics providers, sterile compounding pharmacies, and clinics. Existing law requires various fees to be paid to the board, including specified fees for the issuance of a nongovernmental pharmacy license, a nongovernmental wholesaler or third-party logistics license, a nongovernmental sterile compounding pharmacy license, and a nongovernmental clinic license. This bill, commencing July 1, 2021, would instead make the above-described license fees apply to the issuance of a pharmacy license, a wholesaler or third-party logistics license, a sterile compounding pharmacy license, and a clinic license, as provided, without regard to whether the license is nongovernmental. The Pharmacy Law requires a fee for the reissuance of any license, or renewal thereof, that must be reissued because of a change in the information of the license to be up to $130. This bill would instead make that fee apply to processing an application to change information on a premises license record. (6) 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.