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Senate committee advances bill to let pharmacists prescribe limited low‑risk medications
Summary
The Senate Committee on Government Organization voted to report a committee substitute for Senate Bill 526, the Pharmacist Prescribing Authority Act, which would allow pharmacists to prescribe certain low‑risk medications, preclude controlled substances and exempt the change from a Sunrise review.
The Senate Committee on Government Organization on an voice vote agreed to report a committee substitute for Senate Bill 526 to the full Senate with the recommendation that it do pass.
The bill, titled the Pharmacist Prescribing Authority Act, would create a new article in Article 5 of the West Virginia Code to authorize pharmacists to prescribe low‑risk medications when conditions meet specified limits, explicitly prohibit pharmacists from prescribing controlled substances, and add a final section exempting the act from a Sunrise examination.
Committee counsel told the panel the substitute clarifies that pharmacists’ prescribing must follow FDA‑approved labeling for products and that prescribing under the act would be limited to conditions that do not require a new diagnosis, are minor and self‑limiting, are guided by tests that are CLIA‑waived, or are pharmacist‑judged patient emergencies. The counsel also said the bill was reported earlier by the Health Committee.
Krista Capehart, director of professional regulatory affairs for the West Virginia Board of Pharmacy, told the committee that similar laws exist in about two dozen states and that pharmacists already carry professional liability insurance. "Pharmacists currently already carry medical malpractice insurance," Capehart said. She explained that premiums vary by the type of pharmacy practice and added that other states "have not seen significant increases in their premiums." The committee record shows a senator asked whether the Medical Professional Liability Act applies to pharmacists; counsel confirmed it does.
Committee members asked about liability and the bill’s scope. The Senator from Summers asked whether premiums would rise; Capehart responded that insurance typically adjusts to services provided and cited other states’ experience. A junior senator from the fifteenth asked whether the committee should expand the bill; the chair replied that supporters feared broader language could jeopardize passage.
After discussion concluded with no amendments offered, the vice chair moved to report the committee substitute to the full Senate with the recommendation that it do pass. The motion carried on a voice vote; no recorded roll‑call tally was given.
The committee action sends SB 526 to the full Senate for further consideration.
