Assembly Bill No. 626

Assembly Bill No. 626-Committee on Commerce

CHAPTER

342

AN ACT relating to health care; making various changes concerning the prescribing, selling, furnishing and fitting of contact lenses; authorizing a registered nurse certified in oncology to dispense drugs under certain circumstances; providing a penalty; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

Section 1. NRS 630.375 is hereby amended to read as follows:
630.375 1. The form for any prescription which is issued for an ophthalmic lens by an ophthalmologist in this state must contain lines or boxes in substantially the following form:

Approved for contact lenses _________

Not approved for contact lenses _________

2. The prescribing ophthalmologist shall mark or check one of the lines or boxes required by subsection 1 each time such a prescription is issued by him.
3. If the prescription is for a contact lens, the form must set forth the expiration date of the prescription, the number of refills approved for the patient and such other information as is necessary for the prescription to be filled properly.
4. The initial fitting of a contact lens must be performed by:
(a) A dispensing optician licensed pursuant to NRS 637.122; or
(b) An ophthalmologist or optometrist licensed in this state.
Sec. 2. NRS 636.022 is hereby amended to read as follows:
636.022 "Prescription" means a written direction from a licensed optometrist to [prepare] :
1. Prepare an ophthalmic lens for a patient [.] ; or
2. Dispense a prepackaged contact lens that does not require any adjustment, modification or fitting.
Sec. 3. NRS 636.387 is hereby amended to read as follows:
636.387 1. The form for any prescription which is issued for an ophthalmic lens by an optometrist in this state must contain lines or boxes in substantially the following form:

Approved for contact lenses __________

Not approved for contact lenses __________

2. The prescribing optometrist shall mark or check one of the lines or boxes required by subsection 1 each time such a prescription is issued by him.
3. If the prescription is for a contact lens, the form must set forth the expiration date of the prescription, the number of refills approved for the patient and such other information as is necessary for the prescription to be filled properly.
4. The initial fitting of a contact lens must be performed by:
(a) A dispensing optician licensed pursuant to NRS 637.122; or
(b) An ophthalmologist or optometrist licensed in this state.
Sec. 4. NRS 637.0235 is hereby amended to read as follows:
637.0235 "Prescription" means a direction from a licensed prescriber to [prepare] :
1. Prepare therapeutic or corrective lenses [.] ; or
2. Dispense a prepackaged contact lens that does not require any adjustment, modification or fitting.
Sec. 5. NRS 637.200 is hereby amended to read as follows:
637.200 The following acts constitute misdemeanors:
1. The insertion of a false or misleading statement in any advertising in connection with the business of ophthalmic dispensing.
2. Making use of any advertising statement of a character tending to indicate to the public the superiority of a particular system or type of eyesight examination or treatment.
3. Furnishing or advertising the furnishing of the services of a refractionist, optometrist, [or] physician or surgeon.
4. Changing the prescription of a lens without an order from a person licensed to issue such a prescription.
5. Filling a prescription for a contact lens in violation of the expiration date or number of refills specified by the prescription.
6. Violating any provision of this chapter.
Sec. 6. NRS 639.100 is hereby amended to read as follows:
639.100 1. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, it is unlawful for any person to manufacture, engage in wholesale distribution, compound, sell [,] or dispense , or permit to be manufactured, distributed at wholesale, compounded, sold or dispensed , any drug, poison, medicine or chemical, or to dispense or compound, or permit to be dispensed or compounded, any prescription of a practitioner, unless he:
(a) Is a prescribing practitioner, a person licensed to engage in wholesale distribution, a technologist in radiology or nuclear medicine under the supervision of the prescribing practitioner, [or] a registered pharmacist [;] , or a registered nurse certified in oncology under the supervision of the prescribing practitioner; and
(b) Complies with the regulations adopted by the board.
2. Sales representatives, manufacturers or wholesalers selling only in wholesale lots and not to the general public and compounders or sellers of medical gases need not be registered pharmacists. A person shall not act as a manufacturer or wholesaler unless he has obtained a license from the board.
3. Any nonprofit cooperative organization or any manufacturer or wholesaler who furnishes, sells, offers to sell or delivers a controlled substance which is intended, designed and labeled "For Veterinary Use Only" is subject to the provisions of this chapter, and shall not furnish, sell or offer to sell such a substance until he has obtained a license from the board.
4. Each application for such a license must be made on a form furnished by the board and an application must not be considered by the board until all the information required thereon has been completed. Upon approval of the application by the board and the payment of the required fee, the board shall issue a license to the applicant. Each license must be issued to a specific person for a specific location, and renewed biennially.
Sec. 7. NRS 639.2825 is hereby amended to read as follows:
639.2825 [It]
1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 2, it is unlawful for the holder of a certificate of registration [or] as a pharmacist, a certificate as an intern pharmacist, a license or a permit granted [under the provisions of] pursuant to this chapter to [dispense,] sell, furnish or fit [any cosmetic or therapeutic] a contact lens . [or any contact lens which is used to correct visual acuity.]
2. A registered pharmacist may, pursuant to a prescription, sell or furnish a prepackaged contact lens that does not require any adjustment, modification or fitting, if:
(a) The prescription includes an expiration date and sets forth the number of refills that the person for whom the contact lens is prescribed may receive; and
(b) The contact lens is not sold or furnished with the intent that the initial use of the contact lens will occur after the expiration date of the prescription.
3. As used in this section, "contact lens" includes, without limitation, any cosmetic or therapeutic contact lens or any contact lens that is used to improve visual acuity.
Sec. 8. The amendatory provisions of this act do not apply to offenses that are committed before the effective date of this act.
Sec. 9. The provisions of subsection 1 of NRS 354.599 do not apply to any additional expenses of a local government that are related to the provisions of this act.
Sec. 10. This act becomes effective upon passage and approval.
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