New Mexico § 33-1-21 - Corrections department required to accept and redispense unused prescriptions; conditions of acceptance and redispensing

§ 33-1-21. Corrections department required to accept and redispense unused prescriptions; conditions of acceptance and redispensing

A. A pharmacy operated by the corrections department or under contract with the department

shall accept for the purpose of redispensing a prescription drug that has been dispensed

and has left the control of the pharmacist if the prescription drug is being returned

by a corrections facility that has a registered professional nurse or a licensed practical

nurse who is responsible for the security, handling and administration of prescription

drugs within that corrections facility and if all of the following conditions are

met: (1) the pharmacist is satisfied that the conditions under which the prescription drug

has been delivered, stored and handled before and during its return were such as to

prevent damage, deterioration or contamination that would adversely affect the identity,

strength, quality, purity, stability, integrity or effectiveness of the prescription

drug; (2) the pharmacist is satisfied that the prescription drug did not leave the control

of the registered professional nurse or licensed practical nurse responsible for the

security, handling and administration of that prescription drug and that the prescription

drug did not come into the physical possession of the individual for whom it was prescribed; (3) the pharmacist is satisfied that the labeling and packaging of the prescription

drug are accurate, have not been altered, defaced or tampered with and include the

identity, strength, expiration date and lot number of the prescription drug; and (4) the prescription drug was dispensed in a unit-dose package or unit-of-issue package. B. A pharmacy operated by the corrections department or under contract with the department

shall not accept for return prescription drugs as provided pursuant to this section

until the pharmacist in charge develops a written set of protocols for accepting,

returning to stock, repackaging, labeling and redispensing prescription drugs. The written protocols shall be maintained on the premises of any pharmacy dispensing

prescriptions for the department and shall be readily accessible to each pharmacist

on duty. The written protocols shall include, at a minimum, each of the following: (1) methods for ensuring that damage, deterioration or contamination has not occurred

during the delivery, handling, storage or return of the prescription drugs such that

it would adversely affect the identity, strength, quality, purity, stability, integrity

or effectiveness of the prescription drugs or otherwise render the drugs unfit for

distribution; (2) methods for accepting, returning to stock, repackaging, labeling and redispensing

the prescription drugs returned pursuant to this section; and (3) a uniform system of recording and tracking prescription drugs that are returned

to stock, repackaged, labeled and redistributed pursuant to this section. C. If the condition of a prescription drug and its package meets the standards set

forth in Subsection B of this section, a prescription drug shall be returned to stock

and redistributed as follows: (1) a prescription drug that was originally dispensed in the manufacturer's unit-dose

package or unit-of-issue package that is returned in that same package may be returned

to stock, repackaged and redispensed as needed; and (2) a prescription drug that is repackaged into a unit-dose package or a unit-of-issue

package by the pharmacy, dispensed and returned to that pharmacy in that unit-dose

package or unit-of-issue package may be returned to stock, but it shall not be repackaged. A unit-dose package or unit-of-issue package prepared by the pharmacist and returned

to stock shall only be redispensed in that same unit-dose package or unit-of-issue

package and shall only be redispensed once. A pharmacist shall not add unit-dose package drugs to a partially used unit-of-issue

package. D. This section does not apply to any of the following: (1) a controlled substance; (2) a prescription drug that is dispensed as part of a customized patient medication

package; (3) a prescription drug that is not dispensed as a unit-dose package or a unit-of-issue

package; or (4) a prescription drug that is not properly labeled with the identity, strength,

lot number and expiration date. E. As used in this section: (1) “ customized patient medication package ” means a package that is prepared by a pharmacist for a specific patient and that

contains two or more prescribed solid oral dosage forms; (2) “ repackaging ” means the process by which the pharmacy prepares a prescription it accepts pursuant

to this section in a unit-dose package, unit-of-issue package or customized patient

medication package for immediate dispensing in accordance with a current prescription; (3) “ corrections facility ” means any facility or program controlled or operated by the state or any of its

agencies or departments and supported wholly or in part by state funds for the correctional

care of persons, including but not limited to: (a) the “penitentiary of New Mexico”, which consists of the penitentiary at Santa

Fe and other places in the state designated by the secretary of corrections; and (b) the parole board to the extent delegated by the Parole Board Act; (4) “ unit-dose package ” means a package that contains a single-dose drug with the name, strength, control

number and expiration date of that drug on the label; and (5) “ unit-of-issue package ” means a package that provides multiple doses of the same drug, but each drug is

individually separated and includes the name, lot number and expiration date of the

drug.