00                             HOUSE BILL NO. 43                                                                          
01 "An Act requiring the use of generic drugs except in certain circumstances; and                                         
02 authorizing specified terms on a prescription."                                                                         
03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
04    * Section 1. AS 08.02 is amended by adding a new section to read:                                                  
05            Sec. 08.02.055. Prescription forms. A dentist licensed under AS 08.36, a                                   
06       physician licensed under AS 08.64, a nurse licensed under 08.68, and an optometrist                               
07       licensed under AS 08.72 who prescribe medication for a patient may use a written                                  
08       prescription form containing a box in the lower right-hand corner of the prescription                             
09       form with the following words appearing to the left of the box: "A drug that is the                               
10       generic and therapeutic equivalent of the drug specified above in this prescription                               
11       must be dispensed if a check mark is not made in this box and if the drug has been                                
12       approved by the Department of Health and Social Services as a more cost-effective                                 
13       alternative."                                                                                                     
14    * Sec. 2. AS 08.80.294(a) is amended to read:                                                                      

01            (a)  In addition to other information that may be required under state or federal                            
02       laws or regulations, a pharmacist, when dispensing a [BRAND-NAME] prescription                                    
03       drug order, shall include the generic drug name that is an equivalent drug product for                            
04       the drug dispensed and the name or abbreviation of the generic drug                                           
05       manufacturer or distributor.                                                                                  
06    * Sec. 3. AS 08.80.295(a) is amended to read:                                                                      
07            (a)  Unless the prescription indicates that it is to be dispensed only as written,                           
08       the pharmacist shall [MAY, WITH THE CONSENT OF THE PATIENT,] substitute                                       
09       an equivalent drug product that has been approved by the Department of Health                                 
10       and Social Services as a more cost-effective alternative than the drug prescribed.                            
11    * Sec. 4. AS 08.80.295 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:                                              
12            (c)  This section does not apply to a prescription ordered by a practitioner for a                           
13       patient in a hospital when that prescription is filled by a hospital pharmacy or in a                             
14       facility that has adopted a formulary system.                                                                     
15    * Sec. 5. AS 17.20.105(b) is amended to read:                                                                      
16            (b)  Except for a prescription filled in a hospital or other institution that                            
17       has established a formulary system, in [IN] preparing a prescription, a pharmacist                            
18       shall [MAY NOT] substitute a generic and therapeutically equivalent drug that                             
19       has been approved by the Department of Health and Social Services as a more                                   
20       cost-effective alternative drug for a registered brand or trade name product specified                        
21       unless [THE PHARMACIST OBTAINS PERMISSION FROM] the author of the                                                 
22       prescription indicates that the prescription is to be dispensed only as written [;                            
23       BUT IF THE PRESCRIBING PHYSICIAN, OSTEOPATHIC PHYSICIAN,                                                          
24       DENTIST, OR VETERINARIAN IS TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE, THE                                                          
25       PHARMACIST MAY, IF UNABLE TO SUPPLY THE DRUG REQUESTED,                                                           
26       SUBSTITUTE A DRUG OR PREPARATION OF APPROXIMATELY EQUAL                                                           
27       THERAPEUTIC VALUE SO LONG AS THE PHARMACIST NOTIFIES THE                                                          
28       AUTHOR OF THE PRESCRIPTION AT AN EARLY OPPORTUNITY].                                                              
29    * Sec. 6. AS 17.20 is amended by adding a new section to read:                                                     
30            Sec. 17.20.125. Approval of cost-effective alternative prescription drug.                                  
31       The department shall approve and maintain a publicly available list of prescription                               

01       drugs that the department determines, after investigation, to be more cost-effective                              
02       generic and therapeutically equivalent drugs to the brand-name equivalent drug.