Section 40. Safeguards against diversion of drugs

A. The holder of the license as a wholesale distributor or permit as a manufacturer or warehouser shall restrict all areas in which prescription drugs are stored or kept for sale to only those persons specifically designated as necessary for the manufacture, receipt, storage, distribution, or quality control of the controlled substance inventory, and shall provide reasonable security measures to include appropriate locking devices on all access doors to these areas and adequate lighting both inside and outside the facility to deter unauthorized entry and diversion.

B. The holder of the license or permit, except for those distributors of only medical gases other than nitrous oxide, shall install a device for the detection of breaking subject to the following conditions:

1. The device shall be a sound, microwave, photoelectric, ultrasonic, or any other generally accepted and suitable device.

2. The installation shall be hardwired and both the installation and device shall be based on accepted burglar alarm industry standards.

3. The device shall be maintained in operating order and shall have an auxiliary source of power.

4. The device shall fully protect all areas where prescription drugs are stored and shall be capable of detecting breaking by any means when activated.

5. Access to the alarm system shall be restricted to the person named on the application as the responsible party or to persons specifically designated in writing in a policy and procedure manual.

6. The system shall be activated whenever the drug storage areas are closed for business.

C. Distribution or delivery of prescription drugs shall be accomplished in a manner to prevent diversion or possession of drugs by unauthorized persons.

1. The holder of the license or permit shall only deliver prescription drugs to a person authorized to possess such drugs at a location where the person is authorized to possess such drugs, and only at a time when someone authorized to possess such drugs is in attendance.

2. The holder of the license or permit shall affirmatively verify that the person to whom prescription drugs are delivered is authorized by law to receive such drugs.

3. Prescription drugs may be transferred to an authorized agent of a person who may lawfully possess prescription drugs, provided the transfer occurs on the premises of the wholesale distributor, manufacturer, or warehouser, and provided the identity and authorization of the agent is verified, and such transfer is only used to meet the immediate needs of a patient or patients.

Historical Notes

Derived from Volume 22, Issue 24, eff. September 6, 2006; amended, Virginia Register Volume 29, Issue 21, eff. August 2, 2013.

Statutory Authority

§§ 54.1-2400 and 54.1-3307 of the Code of Virginia.