The Joint Committee on Health met to discuss the Suspicious Ordering Policy of wholesalers to pharmacies.
Executive Director of the West Virginia Board of Pharmacy, David Potters, said the rule was copied directly from the DEA in 1985. The rule states that wholesalers shall submit a Suspicious Order Report when there is a change in size, quantity or a deviation from prior orders. Potters said the rule is vague and it needs to be better defined in order to cut down on drug addiction but continue to provide the drugs to those who need them. The rule wasn’t enforced however until 2012, bringing up the question of what other rules aren’t being enforced.
Committee Chair Sen. Ryan Ferns, R – Ohio, suggested the Board of Pharmacy come up with a new rule to directly tackle the drug addiction problem and won’t affect those who legitimately need the prescriptions.
Chair Delegate Joe Ellington, R – Mercer, requested that a record of the past four years be brought to the committee to see if the rules of the Board of Pharmacy have been reviewed in that time.
