HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 4466

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, February 16, 2022.

The committee on Public Health, to whom was referred the petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1487) of Michael O. Moore and John C. Velis for legislation relative to hormonal contraceptives, reports recommending that the accompanying bill (House, No. 4466) ought to pass.

For the committee,

MARJORIE C. DECKER.

        FILED ON: 1/31/2022

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 4466

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Second General Court
(2021-2022)

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An Act relative to hormonal contraceptives.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1.  SECTION 5. Chapter 94C, as appearing in the 2018 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting, after section 19D, the following section:-

Section 19E. A registered pharmacist may prescribe and dispense hormonal contraceptive patches and self-administered oral hormonal contraceptives to any person,               regardless of whether the person has evidence of a previous prescription from a primary care practitioner or women’s health care practitioner for a hormonal contraceptive patch or self-administered oral hormonal contraceptive.

The board shall adopt rules to establish, in consultation with the Massachusetts Medical Board, the Massachusetts State Board of Nursing and the MassHealth, and in consideration of guidelines established by the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, standard procedures for the prescribing of hormonal contraceptive patches and self-administered oral hormonal contraceptives by pharmacists.   The rules adopted under this subsection must require a pharmacist to:

(a) Complete a training program approved by the State Board of Pharmacy that is related to prescribing hormonal contraceptive patches and self-administered oral hormonal contraceptives;

(b) Provide a self-screening risk assessment tool that the patient must use prior to the pharmacist’s prescribing the hormonal contraceptive patch or self-administered oral hormonal contraceptive;

(c) Refer the patient to the patient’s primary care practitioner or women’s health care practitioner upon prescribing and dispensing the hormonal contraceptive patch or self-administered oral hormonal contraceptive; 

(d) Provide the patient with a written record of the hormonal contraceptive patch or self-administered oral hormonal contraceptive prescribed and dispensed and advise the patient to consult with a primary care practitioner or women’s health care practitioner; and 

(e) Dispense the hormonal contraceptive patch or self-administered oral hormonal contraceptive to the patient as soon as practicable after the pharmacist issues the prescription.

The rules adopted must prohibit a pharmacist from requiring a patient to schedule an appointment with the pharmacist for the prescribing or dispensing of a hormonal contraceptive patch or self-administered oral hormonal contraceptive.