AB 506

Under current law, a pharmacist must dispense a prescription using the drug

prescribed or, if the price is lower, a drug product that the federal Food and Drug

Administration has designated the therapeutic equivalent of the drug prescribed

(drug product equivalent). Currently, a pharmacist may not substitute a drug

product equivalent if a prescription indicates that no such substitution may be made.

This bill prohibits a pharmacist from substituting a drug product equivalent if

the drug prescribed is a drug for treating epilepsy or for treating convulsions, unless

the pharmacist obtains and documents the consent of the prescribing practitioner

and the patient or the patient's parent, spouse, or legal guardian. Also, if a

pharmacist is dispensing a refill of an epilepsy drug, the bill requires the pharmacist

to dispense the same drug product, from the same manufacturer, that was previously

dispensed, unless the pharmacist obtains and documents the consent of the

prescribing practitioner and the patient or the patient's parent, spouse, or legal

guardian.