4122. (a) In every pharmacy there shall be prominently posted in a place conspicuous to, and readable by, prescription drug consumers a notice provided by the board concerning the availability of prescription price information, the possibility of generic drug product selection, the type of services provided by pharmacies, and a statement describing patients’ rights relative to the requirements imposed on pharmacists pursuant to Section 733. The format and wording of the notice shall be adopted by the board by regulation. A written receipt that contains the required information on the notice may be provided to consumers as an alternative to posting the notice in the pharmacy.
(b) A pharmacist, or a pharmacist’s employee, shall give the current retail price for any drug sold at the pharmacy upon request from a consumer, however that request is communicated to the pharmacist or employee.
(c) If a requester requests price information on more than five prescription drugs and does not have valid prescriptions for all of the drugs for which price information is requested, a pharmacist may require the requester to meet any or all of the following requirements:
(1) The request shall be in writing.
(2) The pharmacist shall respond to the written request within a reasonable period of time. A reasonable period of time is deemed to be 10 days, or the time period stated in the written request, whichever is later.
(3) A pharmacy may charge a reasonable fee for each price quotation, as long as the requester is informed that there will be a fee charged.
(4) No pharmacy shall be required to respond to more than three requests as described in this subdivision from any one person or entity in a six-month period.
(d) This section shall not apply to a pharmacy that is located in a licensed hospital and that is accessible only to hospital medical staff and personnel.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, no pharmacy shall be required to do any of the following:
(1) Provide the price of any controlled substance in response to a telephone request.
(2) Respond to a request from a competitor.
(3) Respond to a request from an out-of-state requester.
(Amended by Stats. 2007, Ch. 130, Sec. 11. Effective January 1, 2008.)
Structure California Code