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Thursday, June 02, 2005

HR 1652 - The Access to Legal Pharmaceuticals Act

This is a good bill. (S 809 is its counterpart)

Access to Legal Pharmaceuticals Act (Introduced in House)

HR 1652 IH


109th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 1652
To establish certain duties for pharmacies when pharmacists employed by the pharmacies refuse to fill valid prescriptions for drugs or devices on the basis of personal beliefs, and for other purposes.


IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 14, 2005
Mrs. MALONEY (for herself, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. CARSON, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, and Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


A BILL
To establish certain duties for pharmacies when pharmacists employed by the pharmacies refuse to fill valid prescriptions for drugs or devices on the basis of personal beliefs, and for other purposes.


Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Access to Legal Pharmaceuticals Act'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds as follows:

(1) An individual's right to religious belief and worship is a protected, fundamental right in the United States.

(2) An individual's right to access legal contraception is a protected, fundamental right in the United States.

(3) An individual's right to religious belief and worship cannot impede an individual's access to legal prescriptions, including contraception.

SEC. 3. DUTIES OF PHARMACIES WITH RESPECT TO REFUSAL OF PHARMACISTS TO FILL VALID PRESCRIPTIONS.

(a) In General- Part B of title II of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 238 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following section:

`SEC. 249. DUTIES OF PHARMACIES WITH RESPECT TO REFUSAL OF PHARMACISTS TO FILL VALID PRESCRIPTIONS.

`(a) In General- A pharmacy that receives prescription drugs or prescription devices in interstate commerce shall maintain compliance with the following conditions:

`(1) If a product is in stock and a pharmacist employed by the pharmacy refuses on the basis of a personal belief to fill a valid prescription for the product, the pharmacy ensures, subject to the consent of the individual presenting the prescription in any case in which the individual has reason to know of the refusal, that the prescription is, without delay, filled by another pharmacist employed by the pharmacy.

`(2) Subject to subsection (b), if a product is not in stock and a pharmacist employed by the pharmacy refuses on the basis of a personal belief or on the basis of pharmacy policy to order or to offer to order the product when presented a valid prescription for the product--

`(A) the pharmacy ensures that the individual presenting the prescription is immediately informed that the product is not in stock but can be ordered by the pharmacy; and

`(B) the pharmacy ensures, subject to the consent of the individual, that the product is, without delay, ordered by another pharmacist employed by the pharmacy.

`(3) The pharmacy does not employ any pharmacist who engages in any conduct with the intent to prevent or deter an individual from filling a valid prescription for a product or from ordering the product (other than the specific conduct described in paragraph (1) or (2)), including--

`(A) the refusal to return a prescription form to the individual after refusing to fill the prescription or order the product, if the individual requests the return of such form;

`(B) the refusal to transfer prescription information to another pharmacy for refill dispensing when such a transfer is lawful, if the individual requests such transfer;

`(C) subjecting the individual to humiliation or otherwise harassing the individual; or

`(D) breaching medical confidentiality with respect to the prescription or threatening to breach such confidentiality.


`(b) Products not Ordinarily Stocked- Subsection (a)(2) applies only with respect to a pharmacy ordering a particular product for an individual presenting a valid prescription for the product, and does not require the pharmacy to keep such product in stock, except that such subsection has no applicability with respect to a product for a health condition if the pharmacy does not keep in stock any product for such condition.

`(c) Enforcement-

`(1) CIVIL PENALTY- A pharmacy that violates a requirement of subsection (a) is liable to the United States for a civil penalty in an amount not exceeding $5,000 per day of violation, not to exceed $500,000 for all violations adjudicated in a single proceeding.

`(2) PRIVATE CAUSE OF ACTION- Any person aggrieved as a result of a violation of a requirement of subsection (a) may, in any court of competent jurisdiction, commence a civil action against the pharmacy involved to obtain appropriate relief, including actual and punitive damages, injunctive relief, and a reasonable attorney's fee and cost.

`(3) LIMITATIONS- A civil action under paragraph (1) or (2) may not be commenced against a pharmacy after the expiration of the five-year period beginning on the date on which the pharmacy allegedly engaged in the violation involved.

`(d) Definitions- For purposes of this section:

`(1) The term `employ', with respect to the services of a pharmacist, includes entering into a contract for the provision of such services.

`(2) The term `pharmacist' means a person authorized by a State to practice pharmacy, including the dispensing and selling of prescription drugs.

`(3) The term `pharmacy' means a person who--

`(A) is authorized by a State to engage in the business of selling prescription drugs at retail; and

`(B) employs one or more pharmacists.

`(4) The term `prescription device' means a device whose sale at retail is restricted under section 520(e)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

`(5) The term `prescription drug' means a drug that is subject to section 503(b)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

`(6) The term `product' means a prescription drug or a prescription device.

`(7) The term `valid', with respect to a prescription, means--

`(A) in the case of a drug, a prescription within the meaning of section 503(b)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that is in compliance with applicable law, including, in the case of a prescription for a drug that is a controlled substance, compliance with part 1306 of title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, or successor regulations; and

`(B) in the case of a device, an authorization of a practitioner within the meaning of section 520(e)(1) of such Act that is in compliance with applicable law.

`(8) The term `without delay', with respect to a pharmacy filling a prescription for a product or ordering the product, means within the usual and customary timeframe at the pharmacy for filling prescriptions for products for the health condition involved or for ordering such products, respectively.'.

(b) Effective Date- The amendment made by subsection (a) takes effect upon the expiration of 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, without regard to whether the Secretary of Health and Human Services has issued any guidance or final rule regarding such amendment.

This is how Liberty dies: with thundering applause

Many of us grew up on Star Wars, and some of us, as 10-year-olds on rainy Saturday afternoons, even spent time trying to piece together the story before the story. What were the Clone Wars? How did the Old Republic become the Empire? How could the emperor have defeated what were presumably thousands of Jedi and taken over the galaxy?

Now we know the answer: Deception. Just like in the real world.

Before the movie was even released, people began making the connection between the war on terror and Vader's declaration near the end of Revenge of the Sith, "You are either with me – or you are my enemy." Lucas, however, when asked if this was a reference to the War on Terror, said at the Cannes film festival, "When I wrote it, [the current war in] Iraq didn't exist. We were just funding Saddam Hussein, giving him weapons of mass destruction; we didn't think of him as an enemy at that point. We were going after Iran, using [Saddam] as our surrogate – just as we were doing in Vietnam. This really came out of the Vietnam era – and the parallels between what we did in Vietnam and what we're doing in Iraq now are unbelievable."



Read the full article.

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Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Yet another step towards totalitarianism....You must inform on your neighbors...

Good afternoon, cogs in the machine!

Emboldened by the success of the passage of his REAL ID act, creating an Internal Passport/National ID card, Rep. James Sensenbrenner has introduced legislation that requires citizens to inform on their neighbors.


Here's an excerpt from the applicable section of the bill (search HR 1528):

`FAILURE TO PROTECT CHILDREN FROM DRUG TRAFFICKING ACTIVITIES

    `SEC. 425. (a) It shall be unlawful for any person who witnesses or learns of a violation of sections 416(b)(2), 417, 418, 419, 420, 424, or 426 to fail to report the offense to law enforcement officials within 24 hours of witnessing or learning of the violation and thereafter provide full assistance in the investigation, apprehension, and prosecution of the person violating paragraph (a).

    `(b) Any person who violates subsection (a) of this section shall be sentenced to not less than two years or more than 10 years. If the person who witnesses or learns of the violation is the parent or guardian, or otherwise responsible for the care or supervision of the person under the age of 18 or the incompetent person, such person shall be sentenced to not less than three years or more than 20 years.'.

What does this mean?

According to DownsizeDC.org,

This proposed new law also requires you to provide full assistance in investigating, apprehending, and prosecuting drug law offenders who are personally known to you. This could involve working undercover and wearing a wire to entrap and convict friends, family members, and neighbors.

This law, as with so many others, is constructed in such a way that it can be justified as a measure to protect children, which includes anyone under the age of majority, including many college students. It also ensnares the private activities of parents related to substances like marijuana. The government considers parents who smoke pot in the privacy of their bedroom after hours a serious threat, whereas Senators and Congresspersons who drink large amounts of alcohol in front of their children in the light of day, are not.

Examples of activities that could force you to inform or face the risk of prison time:

If this is not the kind of America you want to live in, please ask your elected representatives to oppose this law. Click here to send your message.




Once again, Stalin would be proud. Stay tuned for more. Same bat time, same bat channel.