AB 427

Under current law, a licensed physician, a licensed physician assistant, or an

advanced practice nurse certified to issue prescription orders (practitioner) may,

directly or by the use of a standing order, prescribe an opioid antagonist to a person

in a position to assist an individual at risk of undergoing an opioid-related drug

overdose. Opioid antagonists are prescription drugs, such as the drug naloxone,

some of which can, when administered to a person undergoing an overdose on drugs

such as heroin or prescription narcotics, have the effect of countering the effects of

the overdose. A practitioner who prescribes an opioid antagonist in this manner

must ensure that the person to whom the opioid antagonist will be delivered (i.e., the

person to whom it is prescribed) has the knowledge and training necessary to safely

administer the opioid antagonist to an individual undergoing an opioid-related

overdose and that the person demonstrates the capacity to ensure that any

individual to whom the person further delivers or dispenses the opioid antagonist

has or receives that knowledge and training. A licensed pharmacist may, upon the

prescription order of a practitioner issued in accordance with the provisions

described above, deliver (provide) the opioid antagonist to the person specified in the

prescription order and may only deliver an opioid antagonist in accordance with

those provisions or in accordance with his or her other legal authority to dispense

prescription drugs.

This bill makes a number of changes and clarifications to the provisions in

current law, including the following:

1. Explicitly providing that a practitioner may prescribe an opioid antagonist

to one or more licensed pharmacies, and that a licensed pharmacist may, upon and

in accordance with the prescription order, deliver an opioid antagonist to an

individual as specified in the order.

2. Clarifying current law to provide that a practitioner who prescribes an opioid

antagonist, either under current law or to one or more pharmacies under the bill,

must ensure that the person to whom the opioid antagonist

is prescribed

has

or has

the capacity to provide

the knowledge and training described under current law.