A. A pharmacy operated by the Department of Corrections or under contract with the Department of Corrections or a county jail may accept for the purpose of resale or redispensing a prescription drug that has been dispensed and has left the control of the pharmacist if the prescription drug is being returned by a state correctional facility or a county jail that has a licensed physician's assistant, a registered professional nurse, or a licensed practical nurse, who is responsible for the security, handling, and administration of prescription drugs within that state correctional facility or county jail and if all of the following conditions are met:
1. The pharmacist is satisfied that the conditions under which the prescription drug has been delivered, stored and handled before and during its return were such as to prevent damage, deterioration or contamination that would adversely affect the identity, strength, quality, purity, stability, integrity or effectiveness of the prescription drug;
2. The pharmacist is satisfied that the prescription drug did not leave the control of the registered professional nurse or licensed practical nurse responsible for the security, handling, and administration of that prescription drug and that the prescription drug did not come into the physical possession of the individual for whom it was prescribed;
3. The pharmacist is satisfied that the labeling and packaging of the prescription drug are accurate, have not been altered, defaced or tampered with, and include the identity, strength, expiration date and lot number of the prescription drug; and
4. The prescription drug was dispensed in a unit dose package or unit of issue package.
B. A pharmacy operated by the Department of Corrections or under contract with the Department of Corrections or a county jail shall not accept or return prescription drugs as provided under this section until the pharmacist in charge develops a written set of protocols for accepting, returning to stock, repackaging, labeling and redispensing prescription drugs. The written protocols shall be maintained on the premises and shall be readily accessible to each pharmacist on duty and available for review by the Board. The written protocols shall include, but not be limited to:
1. Methods to ensure that damage, deterioration or contamination has not occurred during the delivery, handling, storage and return of the prescription drugs which would adversely affect the identity, strength, quality, purity, stability, integrity or effectiveness of those prescription drugs or otherwise render those drugs unfit for distribution;
2. Methods for accepting, returning to stock, repackaging, labeling and redispensing the prescription drugs returned pursuant to this section; and
3. A uniform system of recording and tracking prescription drugs that are returned to stock, repackaged, labeled, and redistributed pursuant to this section.
C. If the integrity of a prescription drug and its package is maintained, a prescription drug returned pursuant to this section shall be returned to stock and redistributed as follows:
1. A prescription drug that was originally dispensed in the manufacturer's unit dose package or unit of issue package and is returned in that same package may be returned to stock, repackaged and redispensed as needed;
2. A prescription drug that is repackaged into a unit dose package or a unit of issue package by the pharmacy, dispensed and returned to that pharmacy in that unit dose package or unit of issue package may be returned to stock, but it shall not be repackaged. A unit dose package or unit of issue package prepared by the pharmacist and returned to stock shall only be redispensed in that same unit dose package or unit of issue package. A pharmacist shall not add unit dose package drugs to a partially used unit of issue package.
D. This section does not apply to any of the following:
1. A controlled dangerous substance;
2. A prescription drug that is dispensed as part of customized adherence medication packaging;
3. A prescription drug that is not dispensed as a unit dose package or a unit of issue package; or
4. A prescription drug that is not properly labeled with the identity, strength, lot number and expiration date.
Added by Laws 2018, c. 106, § 10, eff. Nov. 1, 2018.