A. Drugs dispensed to persons pursuant to a prescription shall not be accepted for return or exchange for the purpose of re-dispensing by any pharmacist or pharmacy after such drugs have been removed from the pharmacy premises from which they were dispensed except:

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Terms Used In Virginia Code 54.1-3411.1

  • Agent: means an authorized person who acts on behalf of or at the direction of a manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser. See Virginia Code 54.1-3401
  • Board: means the Board of Pharmacy. See Virginia Code 54.1-3401
  • Decedent: A deceased person.
  • delivery: means the actual, constructive, or attempted transfer of any item regulated by this chapter, whether or not there exists an agency relationship, including delivery of a Schedule VI prescription device to an ultimate user or consumer on behalf of a medical equipment supplier by a manufacturer, nonresident manufacturer, wholesale distributor, nonresident wholesale distributor, warehouser, nonresident warehouser, third-party logistics provider, or nonresident third-party logistics provider at the direction of a medical equipment supplier in accordance with § 54. See Virginia Code 54.1-3401
  • Drug: means (i) articles or substances recognized in the official United States Pharmacopoeia National Formulary or official Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States, or any supplement to any of them; (ii) articles or substances intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in man or animals; (iii) articles or substances, other than food, intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of man or animals; (iv) articles or substances intended for use as a component of any article specified in clause (i), (ii), or (iii); or (v) a biological product. See Virginia Code 54.1-3401
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Manufacturer: means every person who manufactures, a manufacturer's co-licensed partner, or a repackager. See Virginia Code 54.1-3401
  • Official compendium: means the official United States Pharmacopoeia National Formulary, official Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States, or any supplement to any of them. See Virginia Code 54.1-3401
  • Person: means both the plural and singular, as the case demands, and includes an individual, partnership, corporation, association, governmental agency, trust, or other institution or entity. See Virginia Code 54.1-3401
  • Personal representative: includes the executor of a will or the administrator of the estate of a decedent, the administrator of such estate with the will annexed, the administrator of such estate unadministered by a former representative, whether there is a will or not, any person who is under the order of a circuit court to take into his possession the estate of a decedent for administration, and every other curator of a decedent's estate, for or against whom suits may be brought for causes of action that accrued to or against the decedent. See Virginia Code 1-234
  • Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. Source: OCC
  • Prescription: means an order for drugs or medical supplies, written or signed or transmitted by word of mouth, telephone, telegraph, or other means of communication to a pharmacist by a duly licensed physician, dentist, veterinarian, or other practitioner authorized by law to prescribe and administer such drugs or medical supplies. See Virginia Code 54.1-3401
  • Prescription drug: means any drug required by federal law or regulation to be dispensed only pursuant to a prescription, including finished dosage forms and active ingredients subject to § 503(b) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U. See Virginia Code 54.1-3401

1. In a hospital with an on-site hospital pharmacy wherein drugs may be returned to the pharmacy in accordance with practice standards;

2. In such cases where official compendium storage requirements are assured and the drugs are in manufacturers’ original sealed containers or in sealed individual dose or unit dose packaging that meets official compendium class A or B container requirements, or better, and such return or exchange is consistent with federal law; or

3. When a dispensed drug has not been out of the possession of a delivery agent of the pharmacy.

B. The Board shall promulgate regulations to establish a prescription drug donation program for accepting unused previously dispensed prescription drugs that meet the criteria set forth in subdivision A 2, for the purpose of re-dispensing such drugs to indigent patients, either through hospitals or through clinics organized in whole or in part for the delivery of health care services to the indigent. Such program shall not authorize the donation of Schedule II-V controlled substances if so prohibited by federal law. No drugs shall be re-dispensed unless the integrity of the drug can be assured. Such program shall accept eligible prescription drugs from individuals, including those residing in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, or intermediate care facilities established for individuals with intellectual disability (ICF/IID), licensed hospitals, or any facility operated by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. Additionally, such program shall accept eligible prescription drugs from an agent pursuant to a power of attorney, a decedent‘s personal representative, a legal guardian of an incapacitated person, or a guardian ad litem donated on behalf of the represented individual.

C. Unused prescription drugs dispensed for use by persons eligible for coverage under Title XIX or Title XXI of the Social Security Act, as amended, may be donated pursuant to this section unless such donation is prohibited.

D. A pharmaceutical manufacturer shall not be liable for any claim or injury arising from the storage, donation, acceptance, transfer, or dispensing of any drug provided to a patient or any other activity undertaken in accordance with a drug distribution program established pursuant to this section.

E. Nothing in this section shall be construed to create any new or additional liability, or to abrogate any liability that may exist, applicable to a pharmaceutical manufacturer for its products separately from the storage, donation, acceptance, transfer, or dispensing of any drug provided to a patient in accordance with a drug distribution program established pursuant to this section.

F. In the absence of bad faith or gross negligence, no person that donates, accepts, or dispenses unused prescription drugs in accordance with this section and Board regulations shall be subject to criminal or civil liability for matters arising from the donation, acceptance, or dispensing of such unused prescription drugs.

2002, c. 632; 2005, c. 68; 2008, c. 429; 2009, cc. 109, 114; 2018, c. 376.