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House approves amendment to make controlled‑substance database real‑time and expand reporting authority
Summary
The House adopted Amendment 1 and passed substitute HB 119 to make Utah’s controlled‑substance database real‑time, broaden 'physician' to 'prescribing practitioner' and provide limited liability protections for pharmacies; sponsors cited timeliness as the core problem and noted a $650,000 one‑time and $175,000 ongoing fiscal note.
Lawmakers on the House floor voted to amend and pass a substitute version of House Bill 119, a measure intended to convert Utah’s controlled‑substance prescription monitoring database into a real‑time reporting system and to broaden the set of prescribers who report.
Representative Dahl introduced Amendment 1 (dated Feb. 5, 2008), which the sponsor said 1) notifies the public that controlled‑substance purchases will be included in the database; 2) replaces the term "physician" with "prescribing practitioner" so non‑physician prescribers are included; and 3) includes language to hold pharmacies harmless in implementation. Dahl described the current database as having stale data — sometimes a month to a month and a half old — and said timeliness was the critical flaw impeding law enforcement and clinical decision‑making.
Dahl said the substitute carries a one‑time $650,000 fiscal note and a $175,000 ongoing cost to implement and maintain the real‑time system. The House adopted Amendment 1 by voice vote and then passed the substitute HB 119. The clerk announced substitute HB 119 had received 70 yes votes, 0 no votes, and 5 absent; the bill was referred to the Senate.
Floor debate focused on technical changes to the database, scope of reporting, and implementation costs; no floor amendments were recorded beyond the adopted Amendment 1.
