CA Health & Safety Code Section 11164.5


(a)

Notwithstanding Section 11164, with the approval of the California State Board of Pharmacy and the Department of Justice, a pharmacy or hospital may receive electronic data transmission prescriptions or computer entry prescriptions or orders as specified in Section 4071.1 of the Business and Professions Code, for controlled substances in Schedule II, III, IV, or V if authorized by federal law and in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. The California State Board of Pharmacy shall maintain a list of all requests and approvals granted pursuant to this subdivision.

(b)

Notwithstanding Section 11164, if approved pursuant to subdivision (a), a pharmacy or hospital receiving an electronic transmission prescription or a computer entry prescription or order for a controlled substance classified in Schedule II, III, IV, or V shall not be required to reduce that prescription or order to writing or to hard copy form, if for three years from the last day of dispensing that prescription, the pharmacy or hospital is able, upon request of the board or the Department of Justice, to immediately produce a hard copy report that includes for each date of dispensing of a controlled substance in Schedules II, III, IV, and V pursuant to the prescription all of the information described in subparagraphs (A) to (E), inclusive, of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 4040 of the Business and Professions Code and the name or identifier of the pharmacist who dispensed the controlled substance.

(c)

Notwithstanding Section 11164, if only recorded and stored electronically, on magnetic media, or in any other computerized form, the pharmacy’s or hospital’s computer system shall not permit the received information or the controlled substance dispensing information required by this section to be changed, obliterated, destroyed, or disposed of, for the record maintenance period required by law, once the information has been received by the pharmacy or the hospital and once the controlled substance has been dispensed, respectively. Once the controlled substance has been dispensed, if the previously created record is determined to be incorrect, a correcting addition may be made only by or with the approval of a pharmacist. After a pharmacist enters the change or enters his or her approval of the change into the computer, the resulting record shall include the correcting addition and the date it was made to the record, the identity of the person or pharmacist making the correction, and the identity of the pharmacist approving the correction.

(d)

Nothing in this section shall be construed to exempt any pharmacy or hospital dispensing Schedule II controlled substances pursuant to electronic transmission prescriptions from existing reporting requirements.
Last Updated

Aug. 19, 2023

§ 11164.5’s source at ca​.gov