NC Utility Worker Protection Act.

2025-2026 Session Introduced by Terence Everitt and 2 co-sponsors

SB 539 requires prescribers to issue two proportional prescriptions for a child's meds under shared custody, and for dispensers to fill the amount for each parent accordingly.

Passed 1st Reading

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Summary — SB 539: Health Occupations — Prescriptions for Children Subject to Shared Custody or Visitation Schedules

Status & key dates
- Bill: SB 539 (Health Occupations) — introduced January 23, 2025; assigned to Finance.
- Hearing noted: February 11, 2025 at 1:00 p.m.
- Proposed effective date in the bill: October 1, 2025.
- Fiscal note (Maryland Department of Legislative Services): not anticipated to materially affect State or local finances.

Purpose
- Require prescribers and dispensers to accommodate court-ordered or court‑approved shared custody/visitation schedules by issuing and filling prescriptions so that each parent can possess an amount of a child’s medication proportionate to the time the child spends with that parent.

Key provisions
- When a parent presents a court‑ordered or court‑approved shared custody or visitation schedule to a prescriber:
- The prescriber (a health care provider authorized to prescribe under the Health Occupations Article) must issue two prescriptions for each drug prescribed for the child.
- Each prescription must be written to be filled by one parent and for an amount proportional to that parent’s time with the child under the custody/visitation schedule.
- When a parent presents the custody/visitation schedule and the corresponding prescription to a dispensing health care provider (pharmacist or other authorized dispenser):
- The dispenser must fill the prescription.
- The dispenser may fill only the prescription that supplies the amount proportionate to that parent’s custodial time.
- The obligation to issue or fill twice‑separated prescriptions applies only when a court‑ordered or court‑approved schedule is presented.

Who is affected
- Primary: children receiving prescription medications and their parents in shared custody/visitation arrangements.
- Providers: clinicians authorized to prescribe pediatric medications and dispensers (pharmacies/authorized dispensers) who will need to process paired prescriptions and verify custody documentation.
- Payers/insurers and pharmacy recordkeeping systems may be indirectly affected (billing, partial fills, refill tracking).

Implementation considerations / potential impacts
- Administrative effects for prescribers and dispensers: verifying custody documents, calculating proportional quantities, issuing and recording two linked prescriptions, and reconciling refill/insurance rules.
- Controlled substances and federal/state dispensing rules (e.g., partial fills, recordkeeping) could require operational guidance to providers and pharmacies to ensure compliance; the bill does not itself specify exceptions for controlled substances.
- The fiscal analysis indicates no significant state or local fiscal impact anticipated.

Bottom line
- SB 539 aims to make it easier for both parents in shared custody situations to have lawful possession of a child’s prescribed medication by requiring prescribers to issue two proportional prescriptions and dispensers to fill the appropriate one when presented with a court‑ordered custody/visitation schedule. Implementation will raise practical questions about verification, partial fills, and controlled‑substance compliance that may need administrative guidance.