e-Profile Login and ID Quick Search
Kansas News: 2007 Legislative Changes
Published in the June 2007 Kansas State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter
The 2007 legislative session instituted several changes to the Kansas Pharmacy Act. House Bill 2096 made some technical amendments to how Board meetings operate. The amendment permits the Board to hold an annual election of officers at any time throughout the year. A second change deleted an outdated requirement that the Board hold an annual meeting for the purpose of examining applicants for licensure as pharmacists.
Senate Bill (SB) 63 amended KSA 65-1637(e) whereby it clarifies the refill limitations for a noncontrolled PRN prescription drug. A prescription for a noncontrolled medication written PRN will now specifically expire one year after the prescription
was originally issued.
An amendment to KSA 65-2837a (b) was made in SB 62. Prescriptions for Schedule II, III, and IV, amphetamine or sympathomimetic amines will no longer require the diagnosis. Schedule III and IV prescriptions in this category may be faxed.
Several changes were made to the law regarding CS and paraphernalia and provided state law conformity with the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005. One change was that the legislature established an 11-member Controlled Substance Monitoring Task Force to develop a plan for the creation and implementation of a prescription drug monitoring program. These programs require prescription data for CS to be submitted to a central database administered by the Board of Pharmacy. The
program would help prevent and detect the diversion and abuse of pharmaceutical CS and is not intended to discourage or interfere with the prescribing of CS for legitimate medical purposes. The second objective of the task force would be to create and establish a real-time electronic purchase log concerning the sales of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine.
Thirdly, the bill makes all forms of over-the-counter (OTC) ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and henylpropanolamine a Schedule V CS. Effective July 1, 2007, all OTC liquids and gelcaps will join the tablets as Schedule V substances and will only be sold at a pharmacy. Prescriptions remain exempt. It will be unlawful for customers to have direct access to any ephedrine or pseudoephedrine product, so it must be behind the pharmacy counter or stored in a locked cabinet. The law makes it a class A, nonperson misdemeanor for any person to purchase, receive or otherwise acquire more than 3.6 g in a single transaction or more than 9 g within any 30-day period of pseudoephedrine base or ephedrine base. The substance may be sold by a licensed pharmacist, a registered pharmacy technician, a pharmacy intern, or a clerk supervised by a licensed pharmacist. The seller must verify that the name entered in the log corresponds to the name provided on the identification. The purchaser must sign the log. The log must also show the person’s address and the date and time of the sale.
The log must have the name of the CS and the quantity sold. The log or database shall be available for inspection during regular business hours to the Board of Pharmacy and any law enforcement officer. The bill also provides immunity to the pharmacy employees who in good faith release information in the log to law enforcement officers. The federal law will continue to require a notice with the logbook that will notify purchasers that any false statements in the logbook may result in criminal penalties. For more specifics on these and other legislative changes go to the Board’s Web site at www.kansas.gov/pharmacy.
The legislature also amended and created new requirements for wholesale drug registrants. A new registration was created for companies selling or leasing durable medical equipment.
Lastly, SB 11 will now permit a pharmacy student or intern who has an immunization certificate to immunize patients so long as he or she is working under the direct supervision of a pharmacist who also has an immunization certificate.
The Board amended the ratio regulation at the March Board meeting. The ratio shall not exceed two to one except for the following: the ratio may be three to one if at least two of the pharmacy technicians have a current certification issued by Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) or have a current certification issued by another organization approved by the Board. The Board has approved PTCB and Institute for the Certification of Pharmacy Technicians at this time.
