It’s that time of year when activity ramps up in the Colorado legislature. The 71st session of the Colorado General Assembly convened on January 11th, 2017. As of January 12, 118 bills had already been introduced in the house and senate. In the nation’s capitol leadership groups from both political parties began meeting and positioning themselves and their policies on January 4th.
For policy wonks it’s off to the races. But for practicing pharmacists there is no notable difference in operations until rules are promulgated by the board of pharmacy enacting legislation affecting pharmacy and pharmacists.
In Colorado, the best way to access the rule updates by the state board of pharmacy is to visit the Secretary of State website using the link
https://www.sos.state.co.us/CCR/Welcome.do.
If you lose this link, it also appears on the Laws, Rules and Policies subpage of the State Board of Pharmacy webpage. (https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/dora/Pharmacy)
Then to access the most recent Colorado State Board of Pharmacy rules.:
- Click “Browse” under “Code of Colorado Regulations”;
- Under “Browse Rules” go to Section 719 and click “Division of Professions and Occupations – State Board of Pharmacy”;
- On the “Browse Rules” page click “3 CCR -719-1″.
Just bookmark this page and you are all set, unless you’d like to understand “just the differences” since recent legislation.
You can find the rules that became effective 11/14/16 by going to the last column “Rulemaking Details (E-docket tracking #1) and clicking on a desired subpage, in this case “2016-00390”, where you will be able to see the rules that were adopted. What we find especially helpful is the link at the bottom of this subpage under the “Adopted Rule” section Redline2016-00390. This way, in this document, you can see exactly what changes were made most recently. (Hovering over sections of the document may even elucidate who made the wording changes and when they were made.)
We had the opportunity to work in collaboration with local pharmacy and veterinary organizations to clearly identify the requirements that need to be met by both in-state and out-of-state pharmacies when compounding for a veterinarian’s office use. A sample of the language “added” to the rule, and highlighted in the “redline” document as a result included:
Distribution of a compounded product to a Colorado-licensed veterinarian may be for the purpose of dispensing by the receiving veterinarian only if:
- The compounded product is necessary for the treatment of a companion animal’s emergency medical condition; and
- As determined by the veterinarian, the veterinarian cannot access, in a timely manner, the compounded product from a prescription drug outlet or nonresident prescription drug outlet
To learn more about the details of this rule or any other rules and regulations, please contact Val at val@valuepharmacists.com.