New Mexico News: Regulation Changes

December 1, 2007 4:46 pm

Published in the December 2007 New Mexico Board of Pharmacy Newsletter

The regulation defining Unprofessional Conduct or Dishonorable Conduct (16 NMAC 19.4.9) was expanded, on October 29, 2007, to include the violation “dispensing a prescription for a dangerous drug without an established practitioner-patient relationship.” Several exceptions to the rule were included:

• treatment of partners of patients with sexually transmitted diseases,
• on call practitioners providing services for the established patient’s practitioner,
• dispensing/delivery of prescription drugs for a declared public health emergency,
• dispensing of naloxone to a person as authorized under NMSA 24-23, and
• the prescribing, administering, or dispensing for immunization programs.

The Board now recognizes “standing orders” for immunizations that have been approved or authorized by the hospital/clinic pharmacy and therapeutics committees and/or medical directors.
The New Mexico Medical Board already has a rule requiring a valid practitioner-patient relationship in order to prescribe a prescription drug for a person. It includes the exceptions noted above and a few others (See 16 NMAC 10.8.8). They specifically prohibit the prescribing of prescription drugs over the Internet or via other electronic means that are based solely on an online questionnaire.
The controlled substance regulation was amended. Several items were added to different schedules in order to make the state regulation match the federal regulations.
The Board passed an addition to Regulation 16.19.20 Controlled Substances at the October 2007 Board meeting. The regulation as you will see below, requires that government-issued identification (ID) be obtained for all new controlled substance prescriptions and that the ID number be recorded in a manner to be determined by the pharmacist-in-charge. As a compliance officer, I do cases on forgeries, and I would suggest that the ID number be recorded on the prescription itself. If the name of the person presenting the prescription is not the same as the name on the prescription, recording the name that is on the ID on the prescription is also helpful. Lastly, please train yourself to always compare the picture on the ID and the person who gave you the ID to make sure that they are one and the same. Thanks for your help.