§1 - C.45:14-57.1

 

P.L.2016, CHAPTER 42, approved August 31, 2016

Assembly, No. 3434 (Third Reprint)

 

 

An Act concerning prescription medications and supplementing Title 45 of the Revised Statutes.

 

     Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

      1.   3a.3      In the event that a pharmacy prepares a prescription medication that is abandoned by a patient, or a long-term care pharmacy does not dispense a prescription medication to a patient in a long-term care facility, the medication 3[shall be held for re-dispensing and used as soon as possible] may be re-dispensed by the pharmacy in a manner consistent with regulations promulgated by the Board of Pharmacy, provided that the medication was maintained under proper storage conditions to ensure its integrity, and has remained under the exclusive control and custody of the pharmacy and the patient’s long-term care facility at all times3.  The medication shall not be 3[2[dispensed] re-dispensed2] dispensed3 to patients later than one year from the date the medication was originally prepared for dispensing. 3[2In order to be re-dispensed, the medication must remain in the constant control of the pharmacy, under storage conditions consistent with proper maintenance of the medication’s integrity.2]3 A re-dispensed medication shall be marked with the same use-by date found on the medication when it was originally prepared for dispensing. 1Nothing in this section shall be construed to modify dispensing requirements and practices related to a prescription drug that can only be dispensed to a patient registered with the manufacturer of that drug, in accordance with requirements established by the federal Food and Drug Administration.1

      3[2For the purposes of this section, “abandoned” shall mean not dispensed to or picked up by a patient within two weeks.2]

      b.   For purposes of this section, a prescription medication shall be considered to be abandoned when a prescription is prepared and made available for dispensing by the pharmacy but is not dispensed to the patient for whom it was prepared within two weeks.3

 

     2.    This act shall take effect immediately.

                                

 

     Permits abandoned prescription medication to be re-dispensed up to one year after original preparation.