§ 40-43-170 — State of Emergency; prerequisites to emergency refills; dispensing of medications by pharmacists not licensed in this State.

(A) When the Governor issues a "State of Emergency": (1) A pharmacist may work in the affected county and may dispense a one-time emergency refill of up to a thirty-day supply of a prescribed medication if: (a) the pharmacist has all prescription information necessary in order to accurately refill the prescription; (b) in the pharmacist's professional opinion the medication is essential to the maintenance of life or to the continuation of therapy; (c) the pharmacist reduces the information to a written prescription marked 'Emergency Refill', files the prescription as required by law, and notifies the prescribing physician within fifteen days of the emergency refill; and (d) the prescription is not for a controlled substance. (2) A pharmacist not licensed in South Carolina but currently licensed in another state, may in a state of emergency dispense prescription medications in those affected counties without being licensed in South Carolina during the time that a state of emergency exists if: (a) the pharmacist has some type of identification to verify current licensure in another state and; (b) the pharmacist is engaged in a legitimate relief effort during an emergency situation. (B) This disaster preparedness ends with the state of emergency.

Legislative History

HISTORY: 1998 Act No. 366, SECTION 1; 1999 Act No. 76, SECTION 13; 2018 Act No. 187 (S.506), SECTION 1, eff May 15, 2018. Effect of Amendment 2018 Act No. 187, SECTION 1, in (A), in (1), substituted "thirty-day supply" for "fifteen-day supply", and made nonsubstantive changes.