§ 71-7444 — Wholesale drug distribution, defined

(1) Wholesale drug distribution means the distribution of prescription drugs to a person other than a consumer or patient.
(2) Wholesale drug distribution does not include:
(a) Intracompany sales of prescription drugs, including any transaction or transfer between any division, subsidiary, or parent company and an affiliated or related company under common ownership or common control;
(b) The sale, purchase, or trade of or an offer to sell, purchase, or trade a prescription drug by a charitable organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, a state, a political subdivision, or any other governmental agency to a nonprofit affiliate of the organization, to the extent otherwise permitted by law;
(c) The sale, purchase, or trade of or an offer to sell, purchase, or trade a prescription drug among hospitals or other health care entities operating under common ownership or common control;
(d) The sale, purchase, or trade of or an offer to sell, purchase, or trade a prescription drug for emergency medical reasons or for a practitioner to use for routine office procedures, not to exceed five percent of sales as provided in section 71-7454 ;
(e) The sale, purchase, or trade of, an offer to sell, purchase, or trade, or the dispensing of a prescription drug pursuant to a prescription;
(f) The distribution of drug samples by representatives of a manufacturer or of a wholesale drug distributor;
(g) The sale, purchase, or trade of blood and blood components intended for transfusion;
(h) The delivery of or the offer to deliver a prescription drug by a common carrier solely in the usual course of business of transporting such drugs as a common carrier if the common carrier does not store, warehouse, or take legal ownership of such drugs; or
(i) The restocking of prescription drugs by a hospital for an emergency medical service as defined in section 38-1207 if the emergency medical service transports a patient to the hospital and such drugs were used for the patient prior to or during transportation of such patient to such hospital.
(3) Except as provided in subdivision (2)(c) of this section, wholesale drug distribution includes (a) the restocking of prescription drugs by a hospital for an emergency medical service as defined in section 38-1207 if such prescription drugs were not used for a patient prior to or during transportation to such hospital or (b) the general stocking of prescription drugs for an emergency medical service as defined in section 38-1207 .

Legislative History

Source: Laws 1992, LB 1019, § 12; Laws 1995, LB 574, § 60; R.S.1943, (2003), § 71-7412; Laws 2006, LB 994, § 18; Laws 2015, LB37, § 90; Laws 2020, LB1002, § 48.