(a)
To assist health care practitioners in their efforts to ensure appropriate prescribing, ordering, administering, furnishing, and dispensing of controlled substances, law enforcement and regulatory agencies in their efforts to control the diversion and resultant abuse of Schedule II, Schedule III, and Schedule IV controlled substances, and for statistical analysis, education, and research, the Department of Justice shall, contingent upon the availability of adequate funds in the CURES Fund, maintain the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES) for the electronic monitoring of, and Internet access to information regarding, the prescribing and dispensing of Schedule II, Schedule III, and Schedule IV
controlled substances by all practitioners authorized to prescribe, order, administer, furnish, or dispense these controlled substances.
(b)
The Department of Justice may seek and use grant funds to pay the costs incurred by the operation and maintenance of CURES. The department shall annually report to the Legislature and make available to the public the amount and source of funds it receives for support of CURES.
(c)
(1)The operation of CURES shall comply with all applicable federal and state privacy and security laws and regulations.
(2)
CURES shall operate under existing provisions of law to safeguard the privacy and confidentiality of patients. Data obtained from CURES shall only be
provided to appropriate state, local, and federal public agencies for disciplinary, civil, or criminal purposes and to other agencies or entities, as determined by the Department of Justice, for the purpose of educating practitioners and others in lieu of disciplinary, civil, or criminal actions. Data may be provided to public or private entities, as approved by the Department of Justice, for educational, peer review, statistical, or research purposes, provided that patient information, including any information that may identify the patient, is not compromised. Further, data disclosed to any individual or agency as described in this subdivision shall not be disclosed, sold, or transferred to any third party. The Department of Justice shall establish policies, procedures, and regulations regarding the use, access, evaluation, management, implementation, operation, storage, disclosure, and security
of the information within CURES, consistent with this subdivision.
(d)
For each prescription for a Schedule II, Schedule III, or Schedule IV controlled substance, as defined in the controlled substances schedules in federal law and regulations, specifically Sections 1308.12, 1308.13, and 1308.14, respectively, of Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations, the dispensing pharmacy, clinic, or other dispenser shall report the following information to the Department of Justice as soon as reasonably possible, but not more than seven days after the date a controlled substance is dispensed, in a format specified by the Department of Justice:
(1)
Full name, address,
and, if available, telephone number of the ultimate user or research subject, or contact information as determined by the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and the gender, and date of birth of the ultimate user.
(2)
The prescriber’s category of licensure, license number, national provider identifier (NPI) number, if applicable, the federal controlled substance registration number, and the state medical license number of any prescriber using the federal controlled substance registration number of a government-exempt facility.
(3)
Pharmacy prescription number, license number, NPI number, and federal controlled substance registration number.
(4)
National Drug Code (NDC) number of the controlled substance dispensed.
(5)
Quantity of the controlled substance dispensed.
(6)
International Statistical Classification of Diseases, 9th revision (ICD-9) or 10th revision (ICD-10) Code, if available.
(7)
Number of refills ordered.
(8)
Whether the drug was dispensed as a refill of a prescription or as a first-time request.
(9)
Date of origin of the prescription.
(10)
Date of dispensing of the prescription.
(e)
The Department of Justice may invite stakeholders to assist, advise, and make recommendations on the establishment of rules and regulations necessary to ensure the proper administration and enforcement of the CURES database. All prescriber and dispenser invitees shall be licensed by one of the boards or committees identified in subdivision (d) of Section 208 of the Business and Professions Code, in active practice in California, and a regular user of CURES.
(f)
The Department of Justice shall, prior to upgrading CURES, consult with prescribers licensed by one of the boards or committees identified in subdivision (d) of Section 208 of the Business and Professions Code,
one or more of the boards or committees identified in subdivision (d) of Section 208 of the Business and Professions Code, and any other stakeholder identified by the department, for the purpose of identifying desirable capabilities and upgrades to the CURES Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP).
(g)
The Department of Justice may establish a process to educate authorized subscribers of the CURES PDMP on how to access and use the CURES PDMP.