Committee advances bill letting pharmacists self-report for treatment before discipline

The committee advanced Senate Bill 2476 on a voice vote after a brief presentation and questions about how self-reporting would work.

Senator Hill, who introduced the bill on behalf of the Board of Pharmacy, said the measure would let a pharmacy license-holder report a substance-use or mental-health concern and get treatment before the board initiates disciplinary proceedings. "It just gives them an opportunity before discipline to self report and get some treatment," Hill said.

Todd, a representative of the Board of Pharmacy, told the committee the program would use a memorandum of agreement: a pharmacist who self-reports would be removed from practice until a treating provider cleared them, and compliance with the program would prevent board discipline. "If they follow the constraints of the program with the Board of Pharmacy, there would not be discipline," Todd said. He added that criminal conduct would not be shielded by the program and that noncompliance would lead to the usual disciplinary hearing and reporting to the national database.

Senators pressed on details. Senator Turner Ford asked whether "impairment" is defined in the bill or the applicable code; Hill and Todd said the bill does not add a precise statutory definition and that the practical trigger would be a substance-abuse or mental-health condition. Senator McMahon asked whether repeated attempts to self-report should be limited; Todd said noncompliance would move a case to a disciplinary hearing, which he said would "self-correct" repeat issues.

Senator Hill moved "title sufficient, due pass," and the chair declared the ayes had it after a voice vote. The transcript records no roll-call tally.

What happens next: The bill was advanced out of committee and will proceed along the legislative process; the committee did not record a roll-call vote on the transcript.