(a) Each Retail Pharmacy that stocks Controlled Substances shall maintain a pharmaceutical stock of Buprenorphine sufficient to fill all active existing prescriptions for Buprenorphine for patients of the Retail Pharmacy as of the effective date of the ordinance in Board of Supervisors File No. 240502 enacting this Section 4804 and at least two additional prescriptions for Buprenorphine.
(b) For purposes of this Section 4804, “prescription for Buprenorphine” means sufficient Buprenorphine tablets or film or both to provide a patient with 24 milligrams per day for one week.
(c) It shall be an affirmative defense to a violation of subsection (a) of this Section 4804 for a Retail Pharmacy to demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that:
(1) No more than three days had elapsed since the Retail Pharmacy maintained a pharmaceutical stock of Buprenorphine sufficient to fill at least two additional prescriptions for Buprenorphine; and
(2) During that three-day grace period:
(A) the Retail Pharmacy had ordered replacement stock and was waiting for the supplier or wholesaler to fill the order, or
(B) the Retail Pharmacy had requested the supplier or wholesaler increase the Retail Pharmacy’s allotment of Controlled Substances and, once the supplier or wholesaler approved the increase, ordered replacement stock within three days of approval, or
(3) The Retail Pharmacy had requested the supplier or wholesaler increase the Retail Pharmacy’s allotment of Controlled Substances and the supplier or wholesaler denied the request.
(Added by Ord. 206-24, File No. 240502, App. 8/1/2024, Eff. 9/1/2024)