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AN ACT relating to licensees authorized to prescribe or dispense controlled 1
substances. 2
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 3
Section 1. KRS 218A.205 is amended to read as follows: 4
(1) As used in this section: 5
(a) "Reporting agency" includes: 6
1. The Department of Kentucky State Police; 7
2. The Office of the Attorney General; 8
3. The Cabinet for Health and Family Services; and 9
4. The applicable state licensing board; and 10
(b) "State licensing board" means: 11
1. The Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure; 12
2. The Kentucky Board of Nursing; 13
3. The Kentucky Board of Dentistry; 14
4. The Kentucky Board of Optometric Examiners; 15
5. The State Board of Podiatry; and 16
6. Any other board that licenses or regulates a person who is entitled to 17
prescribe or dispense controlled substances to humans. 18
(2) (a) When a repo rting agency or a law enforcement agency receives a report of 19
improper, inappropriate, or illegal prescribing or dispensing of a controlled 20
substance it may, to the extent otherwise allowed by law, send a copy of the 21
report within three (3) business days to every other reporting agency. 22
(b) A county attorney or Commonwealth's attorney shall notify the Office of the 23
Attorney General and the appropriate state licensing board within three (3) 24
business days of an indictment or a waiver of indictment becoming pu blic in 25
his or her jurisdiction charging a licensed person with a felony offense 26
relating to the manufacture of, trafficking in, prescribing, dispensing, or 27
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possession of a controlled substance. 1
(3) Each state licensing board shall, in consultation with th e Kentucky Office of Drug 2
Control Policy, establish the following by administrative regulation promulgated in 3
accordance with KRS Chapter 13A for those licensees authorized to prescribe or 4
dispense controlled substances: 5
(a) Mandatory prescribing and dispe nsing standards related to controlled 6
substances, the requirements of which shall include the diagnostic, treatment, 7
review, and other protocols and standards established for Schedule II 8
controlled substances and Schedule III controlled substances containi ng 9
hydrocodone under KRS 218A.172 and which may include the exemptions 10
authorized by KRS 218A.172(4); 11
(b) In accordance[accord] with the CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for 12
Chronic Pain published in 2016, a prohibition on a practitioner issuing a 13
prescription for a Schedule II controlled substance for more than a three (3) 14
day supply of a Schedule II controlled substance if the prescription is intended 15
to treat pain as an acute medical condition, with the following exceptions: 16
1. The practitioner, in his or her professional judgment, believes that more 17
than a three (3) day supply of a Schedule II controlled substance is 18
medically necessary to treat the patient's pain as an acute medical 19
condition and the practitioner adequately documents the acute medi cal 20
condition and lack of alternative treatment options which justifies 21
deviation from the three (3) day supply limit established in this 22
subsection in the patient's medical records; 23
2. The prescription for a Schedule II controlled substance is prescribed to 24
treat chronic pain; 25
3. The prescription for a Schedule II controlled substance is prescribed to 26
treat pain associated with a valid cancer diagnosis; 27
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4. The prescription for a Schedule II controlled substance is prescribed to 1
treat pain while the patient is receiving hospice or end -of-life treatment 2
or is receiving care from a certified community based palliative care 3
program; 4
5. The prescription for a Schedule II controlled substance is prescribed as 5
part of a narcotic treatment program licensed by the C abinet for Health 6
and Family Services; 7
6. The prescription for a Schedule II controlled substance is prescribed to 8
treat pain following a major surgery or the treatment of significant 9
trauma, as defined by the state licensing board in consultation with the 10
Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy; 11
7. The Schedule II controlled substance is dispensed or administered 12
directly to an ultimate user in an inpatient setting; or 13
8. Any additional treatment scenario deemed medically necessary by the 14
state licensing bo ard in consultation with the Kentucky Office of Drug 15
Control Policy. 16
Nothing in this paragraph shall authorize a state licensing board to promulgate 17
regulations which expand any practitioner's prescriptive authority beyond that 18
which existed prior to June 29, 2017; 19
(c) A prohibition on a practitioner dispensing greater than a forty -eight (48) hour 20
supply of any Schedule II controlled substance or a Schedule III controlled 21
substance containing hydrocodone unless the dispensing is done as part of a 22
narcotic treatment program licensed by the Cabinet for Health and Family 23
Services; 24
(d) A procedure for temporarily suspending, limiting, or restricting a license held 25
by a named licensee where a substantial likelihood exists to believe that the 26
continued unrestrict ed practice by the named licensee would constitute a 27
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danger to the health, welfare, or safety of the licensee's patients or of the 1
general public; 2
(e) A procedure for the expedited review of complaints filed against their 3
licensees pertaining to the improper, inappropriate, or illegal prescribing or 4
dispensing of controlled substances that is designed to commence an 5
investigation within seven (7) days of a complaint being filed and produce a 6
charging decision by the board on the complaint within one hundred twenty 7
(120) days of the receipt of the complaint, unless an extension for a definite 8
period of time is requested by a law enforcement agency due to a n ongoing 9
criminal investigation; 10
(f) The establishment and enforcement of licensure standards that conform to the 11
following: 12
1. Restrictions that may include a[ permanent] ban regarding a licensee's 13
or applicant's ability to prescribe or dispense controll ed substances 14
if[on licensees and applicants] convicted[ after July 20, 2012,] in this 15
state or any other state of a[any] felony offense regarding the licensee's 16
or applicant's [relating to controlled substances from] prescribing or 17
dispensing a controlled substance; 18
2. Restrictions that may include [short of] a[ permanent] ban on licensees 19
and applicants convicted in this state or any other state of any 20
misdemeanor offense relating to prescribing or dispensing a controlled 21
substance; 22
3. Restrictions mirrorin g in time and scope any disciplinary limitation 23
placed on a licensee or applicant by a licensing board of another state if 24
the disciplinary action results from improper, inappropriate, or illegal 25
prescribing or dispensing of controlled substances; and 26
4. A requirement that licensees and applicants report to the board any 27
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conviction or disciplinary action covered by this subsection with 1
appropriate sanctions for any failure to make this required report; 2
(g) A procedure for the continuous submission of all di sciplinary and other 3
reportable information to the National Practitioner Data Bank of the United 4
States Department of Health and Human Services; 5
(h) If not otherwise required by other law, a process for submitting a query on 6
each applicant for licensure to the National Practitioner Data Bank of the 7
United States Department of Health and Human Services to retrieve any 8
relevant data on the applicant; and 9
(i) Continuing education requirements beginning with the first full educational 10
year occurring after July 1, 2012, that specify that at least seven and one -half 11
percent (7.5%) of the continuing education required of the licensed 12
practitioner relate to the use of the electronic monitoring system established in 13
KRS 218A.202, pain management, or addiction disorders. 14
(4) For the purposes of pharmacy dispensing, the medical necessity for a Schedule II 15
controlled substance as documented by the practitioner in the patient's medical 16
record and the prescription for more than a three (3) day supply of that controlled 17
substance are presumed to be valid. 18
(5) A state licensing board shall employ or obtain the services of a specialist in the 19
treatment of pain and a specialist in drug addiction to evaluate information received 20
regarding a licensee's prescribing or dispensing p ractices related to controlled 21
substances if the board or its staff does not possess such expertise, to ascertain if the 22
licensee under investigation is engaging in improper, inappropriate, or illegal 23
practices. 24
(6) Any statute to the contrary notwithstand ing, no state licensing board shall require 25
that a grievance or complaint against a licensee relating to controlled substances be 26
sworn to or notarized, but the grievance or complaint shall identify the name and 27
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address of the grievant or complainant, unle ss the board by administrative 1
regulation authorizes the filing of anonymous complaints. Any such authorizing 2
administrative regulation shall require that an anonymous complaint or grievance be 3
accompanied by sufficient corroborating evidence as would allo w the board to 4
believe, based upon a totality of the circumstances, that a reasonable probability 5
exists that the complaint or grievance is meritorious. 6
(7) Every state licensing board shall cooperate to the maximum extent permitted by law 7
with all state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies, and all professional 8
licensing boards and agencies, state and federal, in the United States or its 9
territories in the coordination of actions to deter the improper, inappropriate, or 10
illegal prescribing or dispensing of a controlled substance. 11
(8) Each state licensing board shall require a fingerprint -supported criminal record 12
check by the Department of Kentucky State Police and the Federal Bureau of 13
Investigation of any applicant for initial licensure to practic e any profession 14
authorized to prescribe or dispense controlled substances. 15