TITLE 16 CRIMES AND OFFENSES

Section 13. Controlled Substances, 16-13-1 through 16-13-114.

ARTICLE 2 REGULATION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES

16-13-63. (For effective date, see note.) Liability; review of PDMP data when filling certain prescriptions; cause of action for civil damages.

1. 1. Nothing in this part shall require a dispenser to obtain information about a patient from the PDMP; provided, however, that dispensers are encouraged to obtain such information while keeping in mind that the purpose of such data base includes reducing duplicative prescribing and overprescribing of controlled substances. A dispenser shall not have a duty and shall not be held civilly liable for damages to any person in any civil or administrative action or criminally responsible for injury, death, or loss to person or property on the basis that the dispenser did or did not seek or obtain information from the PDMP.
   2. 1. (For effective date, see note.) On and after July 1, 2018, when a prescriber is prescribing a controlled substance listed in paragraph (1) or (2) of Code Section 16-13-26 or benzodiazepines, he or she shall seek and review information from the PDMP the first time he or she issues such prescription to a patient and thereafter at least once every 90 days, unless the:
         1. Prescription is for no more than a three-day supply of such substance and no more than 26 pills;
         2. Patient is in a hospital or health care facility, including, but not limited to, a nursing home, an intermediate care home, a personal care home, or a hospice program, which provides patient care and prescriptions to be administered and used by a patient on the premises of the facility;
         3. Patient has had outpatient surgery at a hospital or ambulatory surgical center and the prescription is for no more than a ten-day supply of such substance and no more than 40 pills;
         4. Patient is terminally ill or under the supervised care of an outpatient hospice program; or
         5. Patient is receiving treatment for cancer.
      2. This paragraph shall not become effective unless the department's certification required by subsection (d) of Code Section 16-13-57 has been issued.
      3. A prescriber who violates this paragraph shall be held administratively accountable to the state regulatory board governing such prescriber but shall not be held civilly liable for damages to any person in any civil or administrative action or criminally responsible for injury, death, or loss to person or property on the basis that such prescriber did or did not seek or obtain information from such data base when prescribing such substance.
   3. A prescriber who has reviewed information from the PDMP shall make or cause to be made a notation in the patient's medical record stating the date and time upon which such inquiry was made and identifying the individual's name who made such search and review. If the PDMP does not allow access to such individual, a notation to that effect shall also be made containing the same information of date, time, and individual's name.
   4. Nothing in this part shall require a prescriber to obtain information from the PDMP when he or she is prescribing a controlled substance that is classified as a Schedule II, III, IV, or V controlled substance for a patient other than those controlled substances listed in paragraph (1) or (2) of Code Section 16-13-26 and benzodiazepines. Such prescriber shall not have a duty and shall not be held civilly liable for damages to any person in any civil or administrative action or criminally responsible for injury, death, or loss to person or property on the basis that the prescriber did or did not seek or obtain information from such data base when prescribing such a substance.
2. Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (4) of subsection (a) of this Code section, a person who is injured by reason of any violation of this part shall have a cause of action for the actual damages sustained and, when appropriate, punitive damages; provided, however, that a dispenser or prescriber acting in good faith shall not be held civilly liable for damages to any person in any civil or administrative action or criminally responsible for injury, death, or loss to person or property for receiving or using information from the PDMP. Such injured person may also recover attorney's fees in the trial and appellate courts and the costs of investigation and litigation reasonably incurred.

(Code 1981, §16-13-63, enacted by Ga. L. 2011, p. 659, § 2/SB 36; Ga. L. 2016, p. 202, § 3/HB 900; Ga. L. 2017, p. 319, § 1-2/HB 249.)