Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

H.B. 149 Second Substitute (2016GS)

Sponsor

Rep. Daw, B.

Final action

Governor Signed 3/21/2016

Outcome

Became law — signed by Gov. Gary R. Herbert

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• requires the medical examiner to provide a report to the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing (DOPL) when the medical examiner determines that a death resulted from poisoning or overdose involving a prescribed controlled substance;
• requires that, when DOPL receives a report described in the preceding paragraph, DOPL shall notify each practitioner who may have written a prescription for the controlled substance involved in the poisoning or overdose;
• allows probation and parole officers to obtain information in the controlled substance database without a warrant;
• allows the division to provide information to law enforcement officers engaged in specified types of investigations; and
• makes technical changes.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

DEATH REPORTING AND INVESTIGATION INFORMATION
REGARDING CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES
GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Brad M. Daw
Senate Sponsor: 
Curtis S. Bramble
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill provides for the notification of a practitioner when the medical examiner
determines that a death resulted from poisoning or overdose involving a controlled
substance that the practitioner may have prescribed to the decedent.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ requires the medical examiner to provide a report to the Division of Occupational
and Professional Licensing (DOPL) when the medical examiner determines that a
death resulted from poisoning or overdose involving a prescribed controlled
substance;
▸ requires that, when DOPL receives a report described in the preceding paragraph,
DOPL shall notify each practitioner who may have written a prescription for the
controlled substance involved in the poisoning or overdose;
▸ allows probation and parole officers to obtain information in the controlled
substance database without a warrant;
▸ allows the division to provide information to law enforcement officers engaged in
specified types of investigations; and
▸ makes technical changes.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
This bill provides a special effective date.
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
58-37f-301
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2015, Chapters 89, 326, and 336
58-37f-702
, as enacted by Laws of Utah 2010, Chapter 290 and renumbered and
amended by Coordination Clause, Laws of Utah 2010, Chapter 290
ENACTS:
26-4-10.5
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 
26-4-10.5
 is enacted to read:
 26-4-10.5.
Medical examiner to report death caused by prescribed controlled
substance poisoning or overdose.
(1) If a medical examiner determines that the death of a person who is 12 years of age
or older at the time of death resulted from poisoning or overdose involving a prescribed
controlled substance, the medical examiner shall, within three business days after the day on
which the medical examiner determines the cause of death, send a written report to the
Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing, created in Section 
58-1-103
, that
includes:
(a) the decedent's name;
(b) each drug or other substance found in the decedent's system that may have
contributed to the poisoning or overdose, if known; and
(c) the name of each person the medical examiner has reason to believe may have
prescribed a controlled substance described in Subsection (1)(b) to the decedent.
(2) This section does not create a new cause of action.
Section 2. Section 
58-37f-301
 is amended to read:
58-37f-301.
Access to database.
(1) The division shall make rules, in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah
Administrative Rulemaking Act, to:
(a) effectively enforce the limitations on access to the database as described in this
part; and
(b) establish standards and procedures to ensure accurate identification of individuals
requesting information or receiving information without request from the database.
(2) The division shall make information in the database and information obtained from
other state or federal prescription monitoring programs by means of the database available only
to the following individuals, in accordance with the requirements of this chapter and division
rules:
(a) 
(i)
 personnel of the division specifically assigned to conduct investigations related
to controlled substance laws under the jurisdiction of the division; 
and
(ii) the following law enforcement officers, but the division may only provide
nonidentifying information, limited to gender, year of birth, and postal ZIP code, regarding
individuals for whom a controlled substance has been prescribed or to whom a controlled
substance has been dispensed:
(A) a law enforcement agency officer who is engaged in a joint investigation with the
division; and
(B) a law enforcement agency officer to whom the division has referred a suspected
criminal violation of controlled substance laws;
(b) authorized division personnel engaged in analysis of controlled substance
prescription information as a part of the assigned duties and responsibilities of their
employment;
(c) in accordance with a written agreement entered into with the department,
employees of the Department of Health:
(i) whom the director of the Department of Health assigns to conduct scientific studies
regarding the use or abuse of controlled substances, if the identity of the individuals and
pharmacies in the database are confidential and are not disclosed in any manner to any
individual who is not directly involved in the scientific studies; or
(ii) when the information is requested by the Department of Health in relation to a
person or provider whom the Department of Health suspects may be improperly obtaining or
providing a controlled substance;
(d) in accordance with a written agreement entered into with the department, a
designee of the director of the Department of Health, who is not an employee of the
Department of Health, whom the director of the Department of Health assigns to conduct
scientific studies regarding the use or abuse of controlled substances pursuant to an application
process established in rule by the Department of Health, if:
(i) the designee provides explicit information to the Department of Health regarding
the purpose of the scientific studies;
(ii) the scientific studies to be conducted by the designee:
(A) fit within the responsibilities of the Department of Health for health and welfare;
(B) are reviewed and approved by an Institutional Review Board that is approved for
human subject research by the United States Department of Health and Human Services; and
(C) are not conducted for profit or commercial gain; and
(D) are conducted in a research facility, as defined by division rule, that is associated
with a university or college in the state accredited by one or more regional or national
accrediting agencies recognized by the United States Department of Education;
(iii) the designee protects the information as a business associate of the Department of
Health; and
(iv) the identity of the prescribers, patients, and pharmacies in the database are
de-identified, confidential, not disclosed in any manner to the designee or to any individual
who is not directly involved in the scientific studies;
(e) in accordance with the written agreement entered into with the department and the
Department of Health, authorized employees of a managed care organization, as defined in 42
C.F.R. Sec. 438, if:
(i) the managed care organization contracts with the Department of Health under the
provisions of Section 
26-18-405
 and the contract includes provisions that:
(A) require a managed care organization employee who will have access to information
from the database to submit to a criminal background check; and
(B) limit the authorized employee of the managed care organization to requesting either
the division or the Department of Health to conduct a search of the database regarding a
specific Medicaid enrollee and to report the results of the search to the authorized employee;
and
(ii) the information is requested by an authorized employee of the managed care
organization in relation to a person who is enrolled in the Medicaid program with the managed
care organization, and the managed care organization suspects the person may be improperly
obtaining or providing a controlled substance;
(f) a licensed practitioner having authority to prescribe controlled substances, to the
extent the information:
(i) (A) relates specifically to a current or prospective patient of the practitioner; and
(B) is provided to or sought by the practitioner for the purpose of:
(I) prescribing or considering prescribing any controlled substance to the current or
prospective patient;
(II) diagnosing the current or prospective patient;
(III) providing medical treatment or medical advice to the current or prospective
patient; or
(IV) determining whether the current or prospective patient:
(Aa) is attempting to fraudulently obtain a controlled substance from the practitioner;
or
(Bb) has fraudulently obtained, or attempted to fraudulently obtain, a controlled
substance from the practitioner;
(ii) (A) relates specifically to a former patient of the practitioner; and
(B) is provided to or sought by the practitioner for the purpose of determining whether
the former patient has fraudulently obtained, or has attempted to fraudulently obtain, a
controlled substance from the practitioner;
(iii) relates specifically to an individual who has access to the practitioner's Drug
Enforcement Administration identification number, and the practitioner suspects that the
individual may have used the practitioner's Drug Enforcement Administration identification
number to fraudulently acquire or prescribe a controlled substance;
(iv) relates to the practitioner's own prescribing practices, except when specifically
prohibited by the division by administrative rule;
(v) relates to the use of the controlled substance database by an employee of the
practitioner, described in Subsection (2)(g); or
(vi) relates to any use of the practitioner's Drug Enforcement Administration
identification number to obtain, attempt to obtain, prescribe, or attempt to prescribe, a
controlled substance;
(g) in accordance with Subsection (3)(a), an employee of a practitioner described in
Subsection (2)(f), for a purpose described in Subsection (2)(f)(i) or (ii), if:
(i) the employee is designated by the practitioner as an individual authorized to access
the information on behalf of the practitioner;
(ii) the practitioner provides written notice to the division of the identity of the
employee; and
(iii) the division:
(A) grants the employee access to the database; and
(B) provides the employee with a password that is unique to that employee to access
the database in order to permit the division to comply with the requirements of Subsection
58-37f-203
(5) with respect to the employee;
(h) an employee of the same business that employs a licensed practitioner under
Subsection (2)(f) if:
(i) the employee is designated by the practitioner as an individual authorized to access
the information on behalf of the practitioner;
(ii) the practitioner and the employing business provide written notice to the division of
the identity of the designated employee; and
(iii) the division:
(A) grants the employee access to the database; and
(B) provides the employee with a password that is unique to that employee to access
the database in order to permit the division to comply with the requirements of Subsection
58-37f-203
(5) with respect to the employee;
(i) a licensed pharmacist having authority to dispense a controlled substance to the
extent the information is provided or sought for the purpose of:
(i) dispensing or considering dispensing any controlled substance; or
(ii) determining whether a person:
(A) is attempting to fraudulently obtain a controlled substance from the pharmacist; or
(B) has fraudulently obtained, or attempted to fraudulently obtain, a controlled
substance from the pharmacist;
(j) in accordance with Subsection (3)(a), a licensed pharmacy technician and pharmacy
intern who is an employee of a pharmacy as defined in Section 
58-17b-102
, for the purposes
described in Subsection (2)(h)(i) or (ii), if:
(i) the employee is designated by the pharmacist-in-charge as an individual authorized
to access the information on behalf of a licensed pharmacist employed by the pharmacy;
(ii) the pharmacist-in-charge provides written notice to the division of the identity of
the employee; and
(iii) the division:
(A) grants the employee access to the database; and
(B) provides the employee with a password that is unique to that employee to access
the database in order to permit the division to comply with the requirements of Subsection
58-37f-203
(5) with respect to the employee;
(k) pursuant to a valid search warrant, federal, state, and local law enforcement
[
agencies
] 
officers
 and state and local prosecutors [
that
] 
who
 are engaged in an investigation
related to:
(i) one or more controlled substances; and
(ii) a specific person who is a subject of the investigation;
(l) a probation or parole officer employed by the Department of Corrections or by a
political subdivision who is not required to obtain a search warrant to gain access to database
information necessary for the officer's supervision of a specific probationer or parolee who is
under the officer's direct supervision;
[
(l)
] 
(m)
 employees of the Office of Internal Audit and Program Integrity within the
Department of Health who are engaged in their specified duty of ensuring Medicaid program
integrity under Section 
26-18-2.3
;
[
(m)
] 
(n)
 a mental health therapist, if:
(i) the information relates to a patient who is:
(A) enrolled in a licensed substance abuse treatment program; and
(B) receiving treatment from, or under the direction of, the mental health therapist as
part of the patient's participation in the licensed substance abuse treatment program described
in Subsection (2)[
(m)
]
(n)
(i)(A);
(ii) the information is sought for the purpose of determining whether the patient is
using a controlled substance while the patient is enrolled in the licensed substance abuse
treatment program described in Subsection (2)[
(m)
]
(n)
(i)(A); and
(iii) the licensed substance abuse treatment program described in Subsection
(2)(m)(i)(A) is associated with a practitioner who:
(A) is a physician, a physician assistant, an advance practice registered nurse, or a
pharmacist; and
(B) is available to consult with the mental health therapist regarding the information
obtained by the mental health therapist, under this Subsection (2)[
(m)
]
(n)
, from the database;
[
(n)
] 
(o)
 an individual who is the recipient of a controlled substance prescription
entered into the database, upon providing evidence satisfactory to the division that the
individual requesting the information is in fact the individual about whom the data entry was
made;
[
(o)
] 
(p)
 an individual under Subsection (2)[
(n)
]
(o)
 for the purpose of obtaining a list of
the persons and entities that have requested or received any information from the database
regarding the individual, except if the individual's record is subject to a pending or current
investigation as authorized under this Subsection (2);
[
(p)
] 
(q)
 the inspector general, or a designee of the inspector general, of the Office of
Inspector General of Medicaid Services, for the purpose of fulfilling the duties described in
Title 63A, Chapter 13, Part 2, Office and Powers; and
[
(q)
] 
(r)
 the following licensed physicians for the purpose of reviewing and offering an
opinion on an individual's request for workers' compensation benefits under Title 34A, Chapter
2, Workers' Compensation Act, or Title 34A, Chapter 3, Utah Occupational Disease Act:
(i) a member of the medical panel described in Section 
34A-2-601
;
(ii) a physician employed as medical director for a licensed workers' compensation
insurer or an approved self-insured employer; or
(iii) a physician offering a second opinion regarding treatment.
(3) (a) (i) A practitioner described in Subsection (2)(f) may designate up to three
employees to access information from the database under Subsection (2)(g), (2)(h), or (4)(c).
(ii) A pharmacist described in Subsection (2)(i) who is a pharmacist-in-charge may
designate up to five employees to access information from the database under Subsection (2)(j).
(b) The division shall make rules, in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah
Administrative Rulemaking Act, to:
(i) establish background check procedures to determine whether an employee
designated under Subsection (2)(g), (2)(h), or (4)(c) should be granted access to the database;
and
(ii) establish the information to be provided by an emergency room employee under
Subsection (4).
(c) The division shall grant an employee designated under Subsection (2)(g), (2)(h), or
(4)(c) access to the database, unless the division determines, based on a background check, that
the employee poses a security risk to the information contained in the database.
(4) (a) An individual who is employed in the emergency room of a hospital may
exercise access to the database under this Subsection (4) on behalf of a licensed practitioner if
the individual is designated under Subsection (4)(c) and the licensed practitioner:
(i) is employed in the emergency room;
(ii) is treating an emergency room patient for an emergency medical condition; and
(iii) requests that an individual employed in the emergency room and designated under
Subsection (4)(c) obtain information regarding the patient from the database as needed in the
course of treatment.
(b) The emergency room employee obtaining information from the database shall,
when gaining access to the database, provide to the database the name and any additional
identifiers regarding the requesting practitioner as required by division administrative rule
established under Subsection (3)(b).
(c) An individual employed in the emergency room under this Subsection (4) may
obtain information from the database as provided in Subsection (4)(a) if:
(i) the employee is designated by the practitioner as an individual authorized to access
the information on behalf of the practitioner;
(ii) the practitioner and the hospital operating the emergency room provide written
notice to the division of the identity of the designated employee; and
(iii) the division:
(A) grants the employee access to the database; and
(B) provides the employee with a password that is unique to that employee to access
the database in order to permit the division to comply with the requirements of Subsection
58-37f-203
(5) with respect to the employee.
(d) The division may impose a fee, in accordance with Section 
63J-1-504
, on a
practitioner who designates an employee under Subsection (2)(g), (2)(h), or (4)(c) to pay for the
costs incurred by the division to conduct the background check and make the determination
described in Subsection (3)(b).
(5) (a) An individual who is granted access to the database based on the fact that the
individual is a licensed practitioner or a mental health therapist shall be denied access to the
database when the individual is no longer licensed.
(b) An individual who is granted access to the database based on the fact that the
individual is a designated employee of a licensed practitioner shall be denied access to the
database when the practitioner is no longer licensed.
Section 3. Section 
58-37f-702
 is amended to read:
58-37f-702.
Reporting prescribed controlled substance poisoning or overdose to a
practitioner.
(1) [
Beginning on July 1, 2012,
] 
The division shall take the actions described in
Subsection (2)
 if the division receives a report from
:
(a) a medical examiner under Section 
26-4-10.5
 regarding a death caused by poisoning
or overdose involving a prescribed controlled substance; or
(b)
 a general acute hospital under Section 
26-21-26
[
,
] regarding admission to a general
acute hospital for poisoning or overdose involving a prescribed controlled substance[
, the
]
.
(2) The
 division shall, within three business days after the day on which [
the
] 
a
 report
in Subsection (1)
 is received:
(a) attempt to identify, through the database, each practitioner who may have
prescribed the controlled substance to the patient; and
(b) provide each practitioner identified under Subsection [
(1)
] 
(2)
(a) with:
(i) a copy of the report provided by the 
medical examiner under Section 
26-4-10.5
 or
the
 general acute hospital under Section 
26-21-26
; and
(ii) the information obtained from the database that led the division to determine that
the practitioner receiving the information may have prescribed the controlled substance to the
person named in the report.
[
(2)
] 
(3)
 It is the intent of the Legislature that the information provided under
Subsection [
(1)
] 
(2)
(b) is provided for the purpose of assisting the practitioner in:
(a) discussing with the patient 
or others
 issues relating to the poisoning or overdose;
(b) advising the patient 
or others
 of measures that may be taken to avoid a future
poisoning or overdose; and
(c) making decisions regarding future prescriptions written for the patient 
or others
.
[
(3)
] 
(4)
 Beginning on July 1, 2010, the division shall, in accordance with Section
63J-1-504
, increase the licensing fee described in Subsection 
58-37-6
(1)(b) to pay the startup
and ongoing costs of the division for complying with the requirements of this section.
Section 4. 
Effective date.
This bill takes effect on October 31, 2016.