The pharmacist will not accept a phone order for a controlled substance when my supervising physician is out of the office. Why?
In the definition part of the Controlled Substance Act it stipulates the the agent must be in the presence of the practitioner when the phone call is made. In your particular situation, since the pharmacist can see the supervising physician entering and leaving the premise, the pharmacist is simply complying with the law. It would not matter whether you are a physician assistant, APN, RN or LVN at that time. There is often some confusion regarding this issue because both the Dangerous Drug Act and the Controlled Substance Act contain many similiar terms with almost identical definitions. And both acts use the same mechanism for identifing agents or designated agents, which can add further confusion.With the passage of HB 1095, this problem should be resolved once the State Board of Pharmacy, in conjuction with the Department of Public Safety and the State Board of Medical Examiners, have updated the pertinent rules that were affected and distributed them.
