AN ACT ESTABLISHING A TASK FORCE TO STUDY OVER-THE-COUNTER DIET PILLS AND SUPPLEMENTS AND PROTECT THE PRIVACY OF PRESCRIBERS OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS FOR REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE AND GENDER-AFFIRMING HEALTH CARE.

Senate
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General Assembly File No. 216
February Session, 2026 Substitute Senate Bill No. 227

Senate, March 30, 2026

The Committee on General Law reported through SEN.
MARONEY of the 14th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on
the part of the Senate, that the substitute bill ought to pass.

AN ACT ESTABLISHING A TASK FORCE TO STUDY OVER-THE-
COUNTER DIET PILLS AND SUPPLEMENTS AND PROTECT THE
PRIVACY OF PRESCRIBERS OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS FOR
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE AND GENDER-AFFIRMING HEALTH
CARE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. (Effective from passage) (a) As used in this section: 1
(1) "Dietary supplement for weight loss or muscle building" means a 2
class of dietary supplement that is labeled, marketed or otherwise 3
represented for the purpose of achieving weight loss or muscle building, 4
but shall not include (A) protein powders, (B) protein drinks, and (C) 5
foods marketed as containing protein unless the protein powder, 6
protein drink or food marketed as containing protein contains an 7
ingredient other than protein which would, considered alone, constitute 8
a dietary supplement for weight loss or muscle building; and 9
(2) "Over -the-counter diet pill" means a class of drugs labeled, 10
marketed or otherwise represented for the purpose of achieving weight 11
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loss that are lawfully sold, transferred or furnished over the counter 12
with or without a prescription pursuant to the federal Food, Drug and 13
Cosmetic Act, 21 USC 301 et seq., as amended from time to time, or 14
regulations adopted thereunder. 15
(b) There is established a task force to study the sale in the state of 16
dietary supplements for weight loss or muscle building and over -the-17
counter diet pills. The task force shall consist of the following members: 18
(1) Two appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, 19
one of whom has expertise in the safety of dietary supplements for 20
weight loss or muscle building and one of whom has expertise in the 21
safety of over-the-counter diet pills; 22
(2) Two appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate; 23
(3) One appointed by the majority leader of the House of 24
Representatives; 25
(4) One appointed by the majority leader of the Senate; 26
(5) One appointed by the minority leader of the House of 27
Representatives; 28
(6) One appointed by the minority leader of the Senate; 29
(7) The Commissioner of Consumer Protection, or the commissioner's 30
designee; 31
(8) The Commissioner of Public Health, or the commissioner's 32
designee; and 33
(9) The executive director of the Commission on Women, Children, 34
Seniors, Equity and Opportunity, who shall serve as chairperson of the 35
task force. 36
(c) Any member of the task force appointed under subdivision (1), 37
(2), (3), (4), (5) or (6) of subsection (b) of this section may be a member 38
of the General Assembly. 39
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(d) All initial appointments to the task force shall be made not later 40
than thirty days after the effective date of this section. Any vacancy shall 41
be filled by the appointing authority. 42
(e) The chairperson of the task force shall schedule the first meeting 43
of the task force, which shall be held not later than sixty days after the 44
effective date of this section. 45
(f) The administrative staff of the joint standing committee of the 46
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to general law 47
shall serve as administrative staff of the task force. 48
(g) Not later than January 1, 2027, the task force shall submit a report 49
on its findings and recommendations to the joint standing committee of 50
the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to general 51
law, in accordance with the provisions of section 11 -4a of the general 52
statutes. The report shall include, but need not be limited to, research 53
related to the safety of dietary supplements for weight loss or muscle 54
building and over-the-counter diet pills by age of users, whether the sale 55
to minors of such supplements or pills should be restricted and best 56
practices in other states for regulation of such supplements or pills. 57
Sec. 2. Section 20-579a of the 2026 supplement to the general statutes 58
is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 59
October 1, 2026): 60
(a) As used in this section, "reproductive health care services" and 61
"gender-affirming health care services" have the same meanings as 62
provided in section 52-571m. 63
(b) Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter, the Commissioner 64
of Consumer Protection and the Commission of Pharmacy shall not 65
deny the eligibility of an applicant for a license, permit or registration 66
under this chapter based on pending disciplinary action, an unresolved 67
complaint, [or] the imposition of disciplinary action or other adverse 68
action against the applicant by a duly authorized professional 69
disciplinary agency of another state, the District of Columbia , [or] a 70
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commonwealth, territory or possession of the United States or any 71
federal entity that is based solely on the alleged provision of, receipt of, 72
assistance in provision or receipt of, material support for, or any theory 73
of vicarious, joint, several or conspiracy liability derived therefrom, 74
reproductive health care services or gender -affirming health care 75
services that are permitted under the laws of this state and were 76
provided in accordance with the standard of care applicable to such 77
services. [, regardless of whether the patient receiving such services was 78
a resident of this state.] The provisions of this subsection shall not apply 79
where the underlying conduct of the applicant would constitute the 80
basis of disciplinary action against the applicant under the laws of this 81
state if the applicant had been licensed, permitted or registered in this 82
state and the conduct had occurred in this state. 83
(c) Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter, the Commissioner 84
of Consumer Protection and the Commission of Pharmacy shall not 85
impose disciplinary action against any person licensed, permitted or 86
registered pursuant to the provisions of this chapter based on pending 87
disciplinary action, an unresolved complaint , [or] the imposition of 88
disciplinary action or other adverse action against the applicant by a 89
duly authorized professional disciplinary agency of another state, the 90
District of Columbia, [or] a commonwealth, territory or possession of 91
the United States or any federal entity that is based solely on the alleged 92
provision of, receipt of, assistance in provision or receipt of, material 93
support for, or any theory of vicarious, joint, several or conspiracy 94
liability derived therefrom, reproductive health care services or gender-95
affirming health care services that are permitted under the laws of this 96
state and were provided in accordance with the standard of care 97
applicable to such services. [, regardless of whether the patient receiving 98
such services was a resident of this state. ] The provisions of this 99
subsection shall not apply where the underlying conduct of the person 100
licensed, permitted or registered would constitute the basis of 101
disciplinary action against such person under the laws of this state if 102
such person had been licensed, permitted or registered in this state and 103
the conduct had occurred in this state. 104
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Sec. 3. Section 19a -509c of the general statutes is repealed and the 105
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2026): 106
In a facility licensed pursuant to this chapter, a physician assistant, 107
advanced practice registered nurse, registered nurse or licensed 108
practical nurse may, except with respect to an order for schedule II 109
controlled substances, reduce to writing the oral or written order of a 110
prescribing practitioner, as defined in section 20 -571, and transmit the 111
order to a pharmacy licensed under sections 20-570 to 20-625, inclusive. 112
Such transmitted order shall contain the name of the prescribing 113
practitioner and shall be treated as a written prescription for purposes 114
of sections 20 -570 to 20 -625, inclusive , except that, to the extent 115
allowable under federal law, at the prescribing practitioner's request, 116
the written or electronic prescription for drugs related to reproductive 117
health care services or gender-affirming health care services, as defined 118
in section 52 -571m, shall include the name and address of the 119
prescribing and dispensing health care practice or facility instead of the 120
name and signature of the prescribing practitioner. 121
Sec. 4. Section 20 -614 of the general statutes is amended by adding 122
subsection (g) as follows (Effective October 1, 2026): 123
(NEW) (g) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) to (c), 124
inclusive, of this section, to the extent allowable under federal law, at 125
the prescribing practitioner's request, the written or electronic 126
prescription for drugs related to reproductive health care services or 127
gender-affirming health care services, as defined in section 52 -571m, 128
shall include the name and address of the prescribing and dispensing 129
health care practice or facility instead of the name and signature of the 130
prescribing practitioner. 131
Sec. 5. Section 20 -617 of the general statutes is amended by adding 132
subsection (d) as follows (Effective October 1, 2026): 133
(NEW) (d) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) to (c), 134
inclusive, of this section, to the extent allowable under federal law, at 135
the prescribing practitioner's written, electronic or verbal request to the 136
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dispensing pharmacy, the dispensed label of each prescription drug that 137
is not a controlled substance and relates to reproductive health care 138
services or gender -affirming health care services, as defined in section 139
52-571m, shall include the name and address of the prescribing and 140
dispensing health care practice or facility instead of the name of the 141
prescribing practitioner. 142
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:

Section 1 from passage New section
Sec. 2 October 1, 2026 20-579a
Sec. 3 October 1, 2026 19a-509c
Sec. 4 October 1, 2026 20-614(g)
Sec. 5 October 1, 2026 20-617(d)

GL Joint Favorable Subst.

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The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of
the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not
represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general,
fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional
knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final
products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact: None
Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The bill establishes a task force to study the sale of dietary
supplements resulting in no fiscal impact to the state because the task
force has the expertise to meet the requirements of the bill.
The bill also makes various changes to pharmacy statutes concerning
reproductive and gender -affirming health care resulting in no fiscal
impact to the state.
The Out Years
State Impact: None
Municipal Impact: None

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OLR Bill Analysis
sSB 227

AN ACT ESTABLISHING A TASK FORCE TO STUDY OVER -THE-
COUNTER DIET PILLS AND SUPPLEMENTS AND PROTECT THE
PRIVACY OF PRESCRIBERS OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS FOR
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE AND GENDER -AFFIRMING
HEALTH CARE.

SUMMARY
This bill establishes a task force to study the sale of dietary
supplements for weight loss or muscle building and over -the-counter
diet pills (§ 1).
It also expands current law that prohibits the Department of
Consumer Protection and the Commission on Pharmacy from denying
a pharmacy-related license, permit, or registration , or imposing
discipline on the holder of such a pharmacy-related credential, because
of a pending or imposed disciplinary action or unresolved complaint in
another U.S. state or jurisdiction related to reproductive and gender -
affirming health care that is allowed in Connecticut. Specifically, i t
applies these prohibitions to (1) other types of adverse actions taken in
another jurisdiction for these reasons and (2) any of these actions taken
by a federal entity (§ 2).
Additionally, to the extent permitted by federal law, the bill requires
a prescription order for a drug related to reproductive health or gender-
affirming health care, at the prescriber’s request, to include the
prescribing and dispensing practice’s or fac ility’s name and address
instead of the prescriber’s name and signature. This same provision
applies to the dispensed label for one of these drugs unless it is a
controlled substance (§§ 3-5).
By law, “reproductive health care services” include medical, surgical,
counseling, and referral services relating to the human reproductive
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system. “Gender-affirming health care services” generally are supplies,
care and services of a medical, behavioral health, mental health,
surgical, psychiatric, therapeutic, diagnostic, preventative,
rehabilitative, or supportive nature, including medication for treating
gender dysphoria and gender incongruence. It does not include
conversion therapy (CGS § 52-571m).
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2026, except the provisions on the task
force take effect upon passage.
§ 1 — TASK FORCE
The bill establishes an 11-person task force to study the sale of dietary
supplements for weight loss or muscle building and over -the-counter
diet pills. The study must address:
1. dietary supplements labeled, marketed, or represented as
achieving weight loss or muscle building, but not (a) protein
powders or drinks or (b) foods marketed as having protein ,
unless the powder, food, or drink has another ingredient that on
its own is a dietary supplement for weight loss or muscle
building, and
2. over-the-counter diet pills that are (a) drugs labeled, marketed,
or represented as achieving weight loss or muscle building and
(b) available over the counter with or without a prescription
under federal law.
The bill requires the task force to consist of:
1. the Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity and
Opportunity’s executive director, who serves as task force
chairperson;
2. the commissioners of consumer protection and public health, or
their designees;
3. two members appointed by the House speaker, one with
expertise in the safety of applicable dietary supplements and one
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with expertise in the safety of applicable over-the-counter pills;
4. two members appointed by the Senate president pro tempore;
and
5. one each appointed by the House and Senate majority and
minority leaders.
The bill allows appointed members to be legislators, requires
appointments to be made within 30 days after the bill’s passage, and
directs the appointing authorities to fill vacancies.
The chairperson must schedule and hold the first meeting within 60
days after the bill’s passage, and the General Law Committee
administrative staff serves as the task force’s administrative staff.
The bill require s the task force to report to the General Law
Committee by January 1, 2027. The report must include research on the
safety of these items by user age, whether their sale to minors should be
restricted, and other states’ best practices for regulating them.
COMMITTEE ACTION
General Law Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 19 Nay 2 (03/16/2026)