The Louisiana Legislature adjourned their 2010 Regular Session on June 21. Among the approximately 3,000 measures introduced at the beginning of the session, several bills were of interest to pharmacists and pharmacies. Some of the bills passed and signed into law include the following:
- HB 121 (Act 810) updated the state's list of controlled substances to add the new items on the federal list, as well as the synthetic cannabinoids found in certain products like Spice, K2, etc.
- HB 197 (Act 144) amended the Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) Law to require the participation of veterinarians in the program. The law requires rulemaking by the Board before the change can begin.
- HB 872 (Act 287) allows a pharmacist properly credentialed by the Board to administer influenza immunizations to any person over the age of 7 years without the need for a prescription, medical order, or protocol.
All of these laws will become effective on August 15, 2010. The following measure was passed and signed into law; however, it became effective on the date it was signed, on June 22, 2010.
- HB 1095 (Act 488) amended the PMP Law to reflect the six recommendations of the PMP Advisory Council. Prescribers will be authorized to check all prescription transactions bearing their name, to ensure the accuracy of the information submitted by pharmacies. In addition, the new law authorized the program to share information with out-of-state law enforcement, prosecutorial, and practitioner licensing agencies. Finally, pharmacies and other dispensers will be required to report their transactions to the program no later than 7 days after the dispensing date.
The Board is planning to distribute a bulletin to its pharmacies and pharmacists describing these new laws in more detail. The anticipated distribution for the bulletin is the second week of August.