Current as of: 2010 (a) Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter, a licensed
hospital that contains 100 beds or fewer, and that does not employ a
full-time pharmacist, may purchase drugs at wholesale for
administration, under the direction of a physician, or for
dispensation by a physician, to persons registered as inpatients of
the hospital, to emergency cases under treatment in the hospital, or,
under the conditions described in subdivision (f), to persons
registered as outpatients in a rural hospital as defined in Section
124840 of the Health and Safety Code. The hospital shall keep records
of the kind and amounts of drugs so purchased and administered or
dispensed, and the records shall be available for inspection by all
properly authorized personnel of the board.
(b) No hospital shall be entitled to the benefits of subdivision
(a) until it has obtained a license from the board. Each license
shall be issued to a specific hospital and for a specific location.
(c) Each application for a license under this section shall be
made on a form furnished by the board. Upon the filing of the
application and payment of the fee prescribed in subdivision (a) of
Section 4400, the executive officer of the board shall issue a
license authorizing the hospital to which it is issued to purchase
drugs at wholesale pursuant to subdivision (a). The license shall be
renewed annually on or before November 1 of each year upon payment of
the renewal fee prescribed in subdivision (b) of Section 4400 and
shall not be transferable.
(d) The form of application for a license under this section shall
contain the name and address of the applicant, the number of beds,
whether the applicant is a licensed hospital, whether it does or does
not employ a full-time pharmacist, the name of its chief medical
officer, and the name of its administrator.
(e) The board may deny, revoke, or suspend a license issued under
this section in the manner and for the grounds specified in Article
19 (commencing with Section 4300).
(f) A physician himself or herself may dispense drugs to
outpatients directly pursuant to subdivision (a) only if the
physician determines that it is in the best interest of the patient
that a particular drug regimen be immediately commenced or continued,
and the physician reasonably believes that a pharmacy located
outside the hospital is not available and accessible at the time of
dispensation to the patient within 30 minutes of the hospital
pharmaceutical services or within a 30-mile radius from the hospital
pharmaceutical services by means of the method of transportation the
patient states that he or she intends to use. The quantity of drugs
dispensed to any outpatient pursuant to this subdivision shall be
limited to that amount necessary to maintain uninterrupted therapy
during the period when pharmaceutical services outside the hospital
are not readily available or accessible, but shall not exceed a
72-hour supply. The physician shall ensure that the label on the drug
contains all the information required by Section 4076.
(g) A rural hospital, as defined in Section 124840 of the Health
and Safety Code, shall obtain information regarding the hours of
operation of each pharmacy located within the 30 minute or 30-mile
radius of the hospital. The hospital shall update this information
annually, and shall make this information available to its medical
staff.
(h) A licensed hospital that contains 100 beds or fewer, does not
employ a full-time pharmacist, and purchases drugs at wholesale for
administration or dispensation pursuant to subdivision (a), shall
retain the services of a pharmacist consultant to monitor and review
the pharmaceutical services provided by the hospital to inpatients of
the hospital, and the dispensing of drugs by physicians to
outpatients pursuant to subdivision (f).
(i) This section shall not be construed to eliminate the
requirements of Section 11164 or 11167 of the Health and Safety Code.
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Questions & Answers: PharmacistsCalifornia Laws: Pharmacists
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