Virginia Law

A. Consistent with federal laws and regulations, a copy of a prescription shall be given upon request by one pharmacy to another pharmacy provided the drug can be filled or refilled pursuant to §§ 54.1-3410 and 54.1-3411 of the Code of Virginia and provided the patient has given permission for the transfer.

B. The transfer of original prescription information for a drug listed in Schedules III through VI for the purpose of dispensing is permissible between pharmacies if the transfer is communicated directly between the two pharmacies either orally by direct communication between the transferring pharmacist and the receiving pharmacist, or by facsimile machine or by electronic transmission, provided:

1. The transferring pharmacy:

a. Records the word "VOID" on the face of the invalidated prescription;

b. Records on the reverse of the invalidated prescription the name, address, and, except for a prescription for a Schedule VI drug, the DEA number of the pharmacy to which it was transferred, and, for an oral transfer, the name of the pharmacist receiving the prescription information;

c. Records the date of the transfer and, in the case of an oral transfer, the name of the pharmacist transferring the information; and

2. The receiving pharmacy:

a. Writes the word "TRANSFER" on the face of the transferred prescription.

b. Provides all information required to be on a prescription to include:

(1) Date of issuance of original prescription;

(2) Original number of refills authorized on the original prescription;

(3) Date of original dispensing, if applicable;

(4) Number of valid refills remaining and date of last dispensing;

(5) Pharmacy name, address, DEA registry number, except for Schedule VI prescriptions, and original prescription number from which the prescription information was transferred; and

(6) Name of transferring pharmacist, if transferred orally.

Both the original and transferred prescription shall be maintained for a period of two years from the date of last refill.

C. Nothing in this chapter shall prevent the giving of a prescription marked "For Information Only" to a patient.

D. In lieu of recording the required information in subsection B of this section on a hard copy prescription, a pharmacy may record all required information in an automated data processing system used for storage and retrieval of dispensing information in accordance with 18VAC110-20-250.

E. For prescriptions transferred between pharmacies using a common database, the pharmacy receiving the prescription shall not be required to maintain a hard copy pursuant to 18VAC110-20-240 B provided that the system used is capable of generating a hard copy of the transferred prescription upon request or except as required by federal law.