S384

An Act concerning provision of prescription medications to certain incarcerated persons and supplementing Title 30 of the Revised Statutes.

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

1. a. For the purposes of this section “incarcerated person” means a person in the custody of the Department of Corrections.

b. The Commissioner of Corrections shall ensure that each incarcerated person continues to receive medication for chronic conditions that was prescribed by a physician prior to the commencement of the incarcerated person’s imprisonment. The provision of the prescribed medications shall be continued during admittance to a correctional facility, while placed in that facility, and during transfers to other facilities.

c. Medications provided pursuant to subsection b. of this section shall continue to be administered to the incarcerated person for a minimum of 30 days from the date the person is committed to the custody of a Department of Corrections’ facility. The facility receiving such persons shall thereafter resume appropriate and commensurate management of the chronic condition including, but not limited to, the use of appropriate therapeutic treatments and medications or their generic substitution in accordance with State law and regulations established by the commissioner.

d. The commissioner shall establish a system to ensure that all necessary medications are given to incarcerated persons in a timely manner while in the custody of a State correctional facility. Necessary medications shall include, but shall not be limited to, those medications which, if missed, may cause serious illness, death or other harmful effects. The system shall include, but shall not be limited to the following:

(1) a screening staff for each facility, which shall include any medical professional currently employed by such facility who shall be trained to determine the medications for which timely continuation is an urgent matter;

(2) a method for determining which medications shall be deemed necessary;

(3) a method for contacting the prescribing physician;

(4) a method for validating the prescription;

(5) a method for checking that all medications brought into a facility are labeled to ensure that the container contains the correct medication;

(6) a method for providing necessary medications to an incarcerated person who has been taken into custody without a supply of such medication;

(7) a method for notifying in advance a facility receiving a transferred incarcerated person, that such person has been prescribed a necessary medication and the continuation of such medication is an urgent matter; and

(8) a method for maintaining a supply of the most common necessary medications at each facility or an on-call physician, or other medical professional capable of prescribing medications, available to prescribe such medications and with the ability to fill such prescriptions.

e. The commissioner shall not be required under the provisions of this section to supply an incarcerated person with any medication which has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States as a matter of federal law.

2. a. The chief executive officer, warden or keeper of any county correctional institution shall ensure that each incarcerated person under the institution’s custody, continues to receive any medications prescribed by a physician prior to the person’s incarceration for the treatment of chronic conditions. The provision of the prescribed medications shall be continued during admittance to a correctional facility, while placed in that facility and during transfers to other facilities.

b. Medications provided pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall continue to be administered to the incarcerated person in a county correctional facility for a minimum of 30 days from the date the person is committed to the custody of a facility. The facility receiving such persons shall resume appropriate and commensurate management of the chronic condition including, but not limited to, the use of appropriate therapeutic treatments and medications or their generic substitution in accordance with State law and regulations established by the Commissioner of Corrections.

c. The chief executive officer, warden or keeper of any county correctional institution shall establish a system to ensure that all necessary medications are given to incarcerated persons in a timely manner while in the custody of a county correctional facility. Necessary medications shall include, but shall not be limited to, those medications which, if missed, may cause serious illness, death or other harmful effects. The system shall include, but shall not be limited to the following:

(2) a method for determining which medications shall be deemed necessary;

(3) a method for contacting the prescribing physician;

(4) a method for validating the prescription;

(5) a method for checking that all medications brought into a facility are labeled to ensure that the container contains the correct medication;

(6) a method for providing necessary medications to an incarcerated person who has been taken into custody without a supply of such medication;

d. The chief executive officer, warden, or keeper of any county correctional institution shall not be required under the provisions of this section to supply an incarcerated person with any medication which has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States as a matter of federal law.

3. This act shall take effect on the first day of the seventh month after enactment.

STATEMENT

This bill requires the Commissioner of Corrections to ensure that all medications prescribed for inmates prior to incarceration for treatment of chronic conditions are continued while they are incarcerated in a State correctional facility. The bill would place similar requirements on county correctional facilities.

The bill requires that medication prescribed for the treatment of chronic conditions be administered to the inmate for a minimum of 30 days from the date the inmate is committed to the custody of the department before resuming treatment in compliance with State law and regulations promulgated by the commissioner. The bill also requires the commissioner and each chief executive officer, warden, or keeper of a county correctional institution to establish a means for providing medication and treatment for chronic conditions, including establishing a screening process and a means of verifying prescriptions. Inmates would not be entitled to any medication which has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States as a matter of federal law. For example, inmates would be precluded from receiving medical marijuana while incarcerated.