Sen. John Bell

Requires the State Board for Community Colleges to require each comprehensive community college to develop policies and procedures for awarding academic credit to enrolled students who have successfully completed a state-approved registered apprenticeship credential. This bill is identical to

Requires a prescription for any controlled substance containing an opiate to be issued as an electronic prescription and prohibits a pharmacist from dispensing a controlled substance that contains an opiate unless the prescription is issued as an electronic prescription, beginning July 1, 2020. The bill defines electronic prescription as a written prescription that is generated on an electronic application and provides that Schedule II through V prescriptions must be transmitted in accordance with federal regulations. The bill requires the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to convene a work group to review actions necessary for the implementation of the bill's provisions and to evaluate hardships on prescribers and the inability of prescribers to comply with the deadline for electronic prescribing and to make recommendations for any extension or exemption processes relative to compliance or disruptions due to natural or manmade disasters or technology gaps, failures, or interruptions of service. The bill requires the work group to report on its progress to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2017, and to issue a final report to such Chairmen by November 1, 2018.

Allows a person who is authorized by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to train individuals on the administration of naloxone for use in opioid overdose reversal and who is acting on behalf of an organization that provides services to individuals at risk of experiencing opioid overdose or training in the administration of naloxone for overdose reversal and that has obtained a controlled substances registration from the Board of Pharmacy pursuant to § 54.1-3423 to dispense naloxone to a person who has completed a training program on the administration of naloxone for opioid overdose reversal, provided that such dispensing is (i) pursuant to a standing order issued by a prescriber, (ii) in accordance with protocols developed by the Board of Pharmacy in consultation with the Board of Medicine and the Department of Health, and (iii) without charge or compensation. The bill also provides that dispensing may occur at a site other than that of the controlled substance registration, provided that the entity possessing the controlled substance registration maintains records in accordance with regulations of the Board of Pharmacy. The bill further provides that a person who dispenses naloxone shall not be liable for civil damages of ordinary negligence for acts or omissions resulting from the rendering of such treatment if he acts in good faith and that a person to whom naloxone has been dispensed pursuant to the provisions of the bill may possess naloxone and may administer naloxone to a person who is believed to be experiencing or about to experience a life-threatening opioid overdose. The bill contains an emergency clause. This bill is identical to

Designates the State Route 143 bridge in the City of Newport News at exit 255 over Interstate 64 the "Trooper Chad Phillip Dermyer Memorial Bridge." This bill is identical to