155A.39 - PROGRAMS TO AID IMPAIRED PHARMACISTS, PHARMACIST-INTERNS, OR PHARMACY TECHNICIANS -- REPORTING, CONFIDENTIALITY, IMMUNITY, FUNDING.
155A.39 PROGRAMS TO AID IMPAIRED PHARMACISTS,
PHARMACIST-INTERNS, OR PHARMACY TECHNICIANS -- REPORTING,
CONFIDENTIALITY, IMMUNITY, FUNDING.
1. A person or pharmaceutical peer review committee may report
relevant facts to the board relating to the acts of a pharmacist in
this state, a pharmacist-intern as defined in section 155A.3,
subsection 30, or a pharmacy technician in this state if the person
or peer review committee has knowledge relating to the pharmacist,
pharmacist-intern, or pharmacy technician which, in the opinion of
the person or pharmaceutical peer review committee, might impair
competency due to chemical abuse, chemical dependence, or mental or
physical illness, or which might endanger the public health and
safety, or which provide grounds for disciplinary action as specified
in this chapter and in the rules of the board.
2. A committee of a professional pharmaceutical organization, its
staff, or a district or local intervenor participating in a program
established to aid pharmacists, pharmacist-interns, or pharmacy
technicians impaired by chemical abuse, chemical dependence, or
mental or physical illness may report in writing to the board the
name of the impaired pharmacist, pharmacist-intern, or pharmacy
technician together with pertinent information relating to the
impairment. The board may report to a committee of a professional
pharmaceutical organization or the organization's designated staff
information which the board receives with regard to a pharmacist,
pharmacist-intern, or pharmacy technician who may be impaired by
chemical abuse, chemical dependence, or mental or physical illness.
3. Upon determination by the board that a report submitted by a
peer review committee or a professional pharmaceutical organization
committee is without merit, the report shall be expunged from the
pharmacist's, pharmacist-intern's, or pharmacy technician's
individual record in the board's office. A pharmacist,
pharmacist-intern, pharmacy technician, or an authorized
representative of the pharmacist, pharmacist-intern, or pharmacy
technician shall be entitled on request to examine the peer review
committee report or the pharmaceutical organization committee report
submitted to the board and to place into the record a statement of
reasonable length of the pharmacist's, pharmacist-intern's, or
pharmacy technician's view with respect to any information existing
in the report.
4. Notwithstanding other provisions of the Code, the records and
proceedings of the board, its authorized agents, a peer review
committee, or a pharmaceutical organization committee as set out in
subsections 1 and 2 shall be privileged and confidential and shall
not be considered public records or open records unless the affected
pharmacist, pharmacist-intern, or pharmacy technician so requests and
shall not be subject to a subpoena or to a discovery proceeding. The
board may disclose the records and proceedings only as follows:
a. In a criminal proceeding.
b. In a disciplinary hearing before the board or in a
subsequent trial or appeal of a board action or order.
c. To the pharmacist licensing or disciplinary authorities of
other jurisdictions.
d. To the pharmacy technician registering, licensing, or
disciplinary authorities of other jurisdictions.
e. Pursuant to an order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
f. Pursuant to subsection 11.
g. As otherwise provided by law.
5. An employee or a member of the board, a peer review committee
member, a professional pharmaceutical organization committee member,
a professional pharmaceutical organization district or local
intervenor, or any other person who furnishes information, data,
reports, or records in good faith for the purpose of aiding the
impaired pharmacist, pharmacist-intern, or pharmacy technician, shall
be immune from civil liability. This immunity from civil liability
shall be liberally construed to accomplish the purpose of this
section and is in addition to other immunity provided by law.
6. An employee or member of the board or a committee or
intervenor program is presumed to have acted in good faith. A person
alleging a lack of good faith has the burden of proof on that issue.
7. The board may contract with professional pharmaceutical
associations or societies to provide a program for pharmacists,
pharmacist-interns, and pharmacy technicians who are impaired by
chemical abuse, chemical dependence, or mental or physical illness.
Such programs shall include, but not be limited to, education,
intervention, and posttreatment monitoring. A contract with a
professional pharmaceutical association or society shall include the
following requirements:
a. Periodic reports to the board regarding education,
intervention, and treatment activities.
b. Immediate notification to the board's executive secretary
or director or the executive secretary's or director's designee of
the identity of the pharmacist, pharmacist-intern, or pharmacy
technician who is participating in a program to aid impaired
pharmacists, pharmacist-interns, or pharmacy technicians.
c. Release to the board's executive secretary or director or
the executive secretary's or director's designee upon written request
of all treatment records of a participant.
d. Quarterly reports to the board, by case number, regarding
each participant's diagnosis, prognosis, and recommendations for
continuing care, treatment, and supervision which maintain the
anonymity of the participant.
e. Immediate reporting to the board of the name of an
impaired pharmacist, pharmacist-intern, or pharmacy technician who
the treatment organization believes to be an imminent danger to
either the public or to the pharmacist, pharmacist-intern, or
pharmacy technician.
f. Reporting to the board, as soon as possible, the name of a
participant who refuses to cooperate with the program, who refuses to
submit to treatment, or whose impairment is not substantially
alleviated through intervention and treatment.
g. Immediate reporting to the board of the name of a
participant where additional information is evident that known
distribution of controlled substances or legend drugs to other
individuals has taken place.
8. The board may add a surcharge of not more than ten percent of
the applicable fee to a pharmacist license fee, pharmacist license
renewal fee, pharmacist-intern registration fee, pharmacy technician
registration fee, or pharmacy technician registration renewal fee
authorized under this chapter to fund programs to aid impaired
pharmacists, pharmacist-interns, or pharmacy technicians.
9. The board may accept, transfer, and expend funds made
available by the federal or state government or by another public or
private source to be used in programs authorized by this section.
The board may contract to provide funding on an annual basis to a
professional pharmaceutical association or society for expenses
incurred in management and operation of a program to aid impaired
pharmacists, pharmacist-interns, or pharmacy technicians.
Documentation of the use of these funds shall be provided to the
board not less than annually for review and comment.
10. Funds and surcharges collected under this section shall be
deposited in an account and may be used by the board to administer
programs authorized by this section, including the provision of
education, intervention, and posttreatment monitoring to an impaired
pharmacist, pharmacist-intern, or pharmacy technician and to pay the
administrative costs incurred by the board in connection with that
funding and appropriate oversight, but not for costs incurred for a
participant's initial evaluation, referral services, treatment, or
rehabilitation subsequent to intervention.
11. The board may disclose that the license of a pharmacist, the
registration of a pharmacist-intern, or the registration of a
pharmacy technician who is the subject of an order of the board that
is confidential pursuant to subsection 4 is suspended, revoked,
canceled, restricted, or retired; or that the pharmacist,
pharmacist-intern, or pharmacy technician is in any manner otherwise
limited in the practice of pharmacy; or other relevant information
pertaining to the pharmacist, pharmacist-intern, or pharmacy
technician which the board deems appropriate.
12. The board may adopt rules necessary for the implementation of
this section. Section History: Recent Form
97 Acts, ch 39, §5