California Law Changes
In 2019 the state of California passed a law referred to as Lizzie's Law which has implications for veterinary clinics prescribing medications.
The exact text of the law can be found in full context here. Below is a copy of the text for reference.
(a) Each time a veterinarian initially prescribes, dispenses, or furnishes a dangerous drug, as defined in Section 4022, to an animal patient in an outpatient setting, the veterinarian shall offer to provide, in person or through electronic means, to the client responsible for the animal, or his or her agent, a consultation that includes the following information:
(1) The name and description of the dangerous drug.
(2) Route of administration, dosage form, dosage, duration of drug therapy, the duration of the effects of the drug, and the common severe adverse effects associated with the use of a short-acting or long-acting drug.
(3) Any special directions for proper use and storage.
(4) Actions to be taken in the event of a missed dose.
(5) If available, precautions and relevant warnings provided by the drug’s manufacturer, including common severe adverse effects of the drug.
(b) If requested, a veterinarian shall provide drug documentation, if available.
(c) A veterinarian may delegate to a registered veterinary technician or veterinary assistant the task of providing the consultation and drug documentation required by this section.
(d) It shall be noted in the medical record of the animal patient if the consultation described in this section is provided or declined by the client or his or her agent.
(1) The name and description of the dangerous drug.
(2) Route of administration, dosage form, dosage, duration of drug therapy, the duration of the effects of the drug, and the common severe adverse effects associated with the use of a short-acting or long-acting drug.
(3) Any special directions for proper use and storage.
(4) Actions to be taken in the event of a missed dose.
(5) If available, precautions and relevant warnings provided by the drug’s manufacturer, including common severe adverse effects of the drug.
(b) If requested, a veterinarian shall provide drug documentation, if available.
(c) A veterinarian may delegate to a registered veterinary technician or veterinary assistant the task of providing the consultation and drug documentation required by this section.
(d) It shall be noted in the medical record of the animal patient if the consultation described in this section is provided or declined by the client or his or her agent.
Recommendations and workflow suggestions
- Our workflow recommendations for complying with this law are below, however, this cannot be considered or construed as legal advice.
- If you need specific legal advice for complying with this law, please contact your legal counsel.
Options
- To add drug documentation to your prescription items, use handouts for this purpose. See How do I create and distribute handouts? for additional information.
- If you have a need to collect a signature on your documents then you will want to use the "Generate Patient Document" option on the patient's medical record to generate the document and collect a signature.
- Regarding both of these approaches, as long as the document template involved has the "Store generated document into the patient's medical record" option checked off in its options then a copy will be added to the patient's medical record.
While support agents are unable to answer questions about the law specifically, please feel free to reach out to our support team for assistance implementing any of these workflow options.