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. (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.