Minnesota Session Laws - 1994, Regular Session

                            CHAPTER 389-S.F.No. 2086 
                  An act relating to health; extending dispensing 
                  authority to physician assistants and advanced 
                  practice nurses; amending Minnesota Statutes 1992, 
                  sections 147.34, subdivision 1; 148.235, by adding a 
                  subdivision; and 151.37, subdivisions 2 and 2a; 
                  Minnesota Statutes 1993 Supplement, section 151.01, 
                  subdivision 23. 
        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
           Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 147.34, 
        subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
           Subdivision 1.  [DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY TO PRESCRIBE, 
        DISPENSE, AND ADMINISTER DRUGS AND MEDICAL DEVICES.] (a) A 
        supervising physician may delegate to a physician assistant who 
        is registered with the board of medical practice and certified 
        by the National Commission on Certification of Physician 
        Assistants and who is under the supervising physician's 
        supervision, the authority to prescribe, dispense, and 
        administer legend drugs and medical devices, subject to the 
        requirements in this section and other requirements established 
        by the commissioner of health in rules.  The authority to 
        dispense includes, but is not limited to, the authority to 
        receive and dispense sample drugs.  This authority to dispense 
        extends only to those drugs described in the written agreement 
        developed under paragraph (b). 
           (b) The agreement between the physician assistant and 
        supervising physician and any alternate supervising physicians 
        must include a statement by the supervising physician regarding 
        delegation or nondelegation of the functions of prescribing, 
        dispensing, and administering of legend drugs and medical 
        devices to the physician assistant.  The statement must include 
        a protocol indicating categories of drugs for which the 
        supervising physician delegates prescriptive and dispensing 
        authority.  The delegation must be appropriate to the physician 
        assistant's practice and within the scope of the physician 
        assistant's training.  The commissioner of health shall identify 
        categories of drugs, if any, for which delegated prescribing is 
        and dispensing are inappropriate.  Physician assistants who have 
        been delegated the authority to prescribe, dispense, and 
        administer legend drugs and medical devices shall provide 
        evidence of current certification by the National Commission on 
        Certification of Physician Assistants or its successor agency 
        when registering or reregistering as physician assistants.  
        Supervising physicians shall retrospectively review, on a daily 
        basis, the prescribing, dispensing, and administering of legend 
        drugs and medical devices by physician assistants, when this 
        authority has been delegated to the physician assistant as part 
        of the delegation agreement between the physician and the 
        physician assistant.  During each on-site visit required under 
        Minnesota Rules, the supervising physician shall document by 
        signature and date that the prescriptive and dispensing practice 
        of the physician assistant has been reviewed.  
           (c) The commissioner of health shall establish by rule: 
           (1) a system of identifying physician assistants eligible 
        to prescribe and dispense drugs and medical devices; 
           (2) a method of determining the categories of prescription 
        drugs and medical devices that each physician assistant is 
        allowed to prescribe and dispense; and 
           (3) a system of transmitting to pharmacies a listing of 
        physician assistants eligible to prescribe prescription drugs 
        and medical devices and the types of drugs and medical devices 
        they are allowed to prescribe. 
           Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 148.235, is 
        amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
           Subd. 3.  [DISPENSING AUTHORITY.] An advanced practice 
        nurse who is authorized under this section to prescribe drugs is 
        authorized to dispense drugs subject to the same requirements 
        established for the prescribing of drugs.  This authority to 
        dispense extends only to those drugs described in the written 
        agreement entered into under this section.  The authority to 
        dispense includes, but is not limited to, the authority to 
        receive and dispense sample drugs. 
           Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1993 Supplement, section 
        151.01, subdivision 23, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 23.  [PRACTITIONER.] "Practitioner" means a licensed 
        doctor of medicine, licensed doctor of osteopathy duly licensed 
        to practice medicine, licensed doctor of dentistry, licensed 
        doctor of optometry, licensed podiatrist, or licensed 
        veterinarian.  For purposes of sections 151.15, subdivision 4, 
        151.37, subdivision 2, paragraph (b), and 151.461, 
        "practitioner" also means a physician assistant authorized to 
        prescribe, dispense, and administer under section 147.34, or an 
        advanced practice nurse authorized to prescribe, dispense, and 
        administer under section 148.235.  
           Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 151.37, 
        subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 2.  (a) A licensed practitioner in the course of 
        professional practice only, may prescribe, administer, and 
        dispense a legend drug, and may cause the same to be 
        administered by a nurse or intern under the practitioner's 
        direction and supervision, and may cause a person who is an 
        appropriately certified and, registered, or licensed health care 
        professional to prescribe, dispense, and administer the same 
        within the expressed legal scope of the person's practice as 
        defined in Minnesota Statutes. 
           (b) A licensed practitioner that dispenses for profit a 
        legend drug that is to be administered orally, is ordinarily 
        dispensed by a pharmacist, and is not a vaccine, must file with 
        the practitioner's licensing board a statement indicating that 
        the practitioner dispenses legend drugs for profit, the general 
        circumstances under which the practitioner dispenses for profit, 
        and the types of legend drugs generally dispensed.  It is 
        unlawful to dispense legend drugs for profit after July 31, 
        1990, unless the statement has been filed with the appropriate 
        licensing board.  For purposes of this paragraph, "profit" means 
        (1) any amount received by the practitioner in excess of the 
        acquisition cost of a legend drug for legend drugs that are 
        purchased in prepackaged form, or (2) any amount received by the 
        practitioner in excess of the acquisition cost of a legend drug 
        plus the cost of making the drug available if the legend drug 
        requires compounding, packaging, or other treatment.  The 
        statement filed under this paragraph is public data under 
        section 13.03.  This paragraph does not apply to a licensed 
        doctor of veterinary medicine or a registered pharmacist.  Any 
        person other than a licensed practitioner with the authority to 
        prescribe, dispense, and administer a legend drug under 
        paragraph (a) shall not dispense for profit.  To dispense for 
        profit does not include dispensing by a community health clinic 
        when the profit from dispensing is used to meet operating 
        expenses. 
           Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 151.37, 
        subdivision 2a, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 2a.  A supervising physician may delegate to a 
        physician assistant who is registered with the board of medical 
        practice and certified by the National Commission on 
        Certification of Physician Assistants and who is under the 
        supervising physician's supervision, the authority to prescribe, 
        dispense, and administer legend drugs and medical devices, 
        subject to the requirements in section 147.34 and other 
        requirements established by the commissioner of health in rules. 
           Presented to the governor April 5, 1994 
           Signed by the governor April 6, 1994, 11:24 a.m.