Though the recently concluded California legislative session did not produce any MICRA-related bills, two pieces of legislation did address physician use of the state’s prescription drug database – a subject of sharp debate during last year’s battle over Proposition 46.
That proposition, which would have quadrupled the limits on awards for noneconomic losses under California’s Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA), included an additional provision to immediately mandate physician use of the state’s Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System, better known as CURES. Introduced in the just-concluded session by Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens), SB 482 closely resembled the language in Prop. 46 to require prescribers to consult the database when prescribing a Schedule II or III drug to a patient for the first time. The bill was held up by the author this session but is likely to be reintroduced in 2016.
The Department of Justice and the Department of Consumer Affairs have been working to upgrade CURES, and in June announced the soft launch and phased rollouts of what they are calling CURES 2.0. To access the database, medical personnel must be registered with the system. Currently, physician registration is voluntary, but a bill passed in 2013 required all doctors to register with the system by January 1, 2016.
Because of the acknowledged concerns regarding the current robustness of CURES, AB 679 by Assemblymember Travis Allen (R-Huntington Beach) has extended that deadline to July 1, 2016. According to the state Department of Justice website, https://oag.ca.gov/, the “universal adoption of CURES 2.0 will take place soon, affording an automated registration process for new applicants.” The passage of AB 679 not only provides an extension that will allow the DOJ to fully roll out the automated registration process, but also offers protection for doctors from discipline by the Medical Board of California during the system roll-out.
More information on CURES can be found at:
https://oag.ca.gov/cures-pdmp
https://pmp.doj.ca.gov/pmpreg/RegistrationType_input.action
Contacts for CURES information include cures@doj.ca.gov and (916) 227-3843.