Herb Kohl: “the basic outline of legislative changes to the Controlled Substances Act that we expect to receive from the Department…”

“the basic outline of legislative changes to the Controlled Substances Act that we expect to receive from the Department of Justice are as follows: The legislation will deem certain nurses or other licensed health care professionals, who are designated by the nursing home as agents of DEA-licensed practitioners (practitioners being the resident's attending physician or specialist), as authorized to transmit the practitioner's order for a controlled substance, specifically Schedule II drugs, to DEA- licensed pharmacies, either orally or by fax. The nursing home, while not licensed by DEA, will be responsible for designating those who are authorized to transmit a practitioner's order, and for making a list of such authorized agents available to the pharmacy. Whenever oral or faxed orders for controlled substances come in from authorized agents, pharmacies will be required to verify, based on the nursing home's list, that the nurse is authorized to call or fax in the practitioner's order. This chain-of-accountability process will allow the practitioner to give oral instructions for ordering a controlled substance to the resident's nurse over the phone. In addition, practitioners will be permitted to opt out with certain employees, should a practitioner have a problem with a particular nurse or designee. Both practitioners and the nursing home will be required to keep written logs, or records, of such oral (or faxed) orders that are submitted by nurses.”