Nothing in this chapter or any other provision of law shall be construed to prohibit a naturopathic doctor from furnishing or ordering drugs when all of the following apply:
(a) The drugs are furnished or ordered by a naturopathic doctor in accordance with standardized procedures or protocols developed by the naturopathic doctor and his or her supervising physician and surgeon.
(b) The naturopathic doctor is functioning pursuant to standardized procedure, as defined by subdivisions (a), (b), (d), (e), (h), and (i) of Section 2836.1 and paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 2836.1, or protocol. The standardized procedure or protocol shall be developed and approved by the supervising physician and surgeon, the naturopathic doctor, and, where applicable, the facility administrator or his or her designee.
(c) The standardized procedure or protocol covering the furnishing of drugs shall specify which naturopathic doctors may furnish or order drugs, which drugs may be furnished or ordered under what circumstances, the extent of physician and surgeon supervision, the method of periodic review of the naturopathic doctor’s competence, including peer review, and review of the provisions of the standardized procedure.
(d) The furnishing or ordering of drugs by a naturopathic doctor occurs under physician and surgeon supervision. Physician and surgeon supervision shall not be construed to require the physical presence of the physician, but does include all of the following:
(1) Collaboration on the development of the standardized procedure.
(2) Approval of the standardized procedure.
(3) Availability by telephonic contact at the time of patient examination by the naturopathic doctor.
(e) For purposes of this section, a physician and surgeon shall not supervise more than four naturopathic doctors at one time.
(f) Drugs furnished or ordered by a naturopathic doctor may include Schedule III through Schedule V controlled substances under the California Uniform Controlled Substances Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 11000) of the Health and Safety Code) and shall be further limited to those drugs agreed upon by the naturopathic doctor and physician and surgeon as specified in the standardized procedure. When Schedule III controlled substances, as defined in Section 11056 of the Health and Safety Code, are furnished or ordered by a naturopathic doctor, the controlled substances shall be furnished or ordered in accordance with a patient-specific protocol approved by the treating or supervising physician. A copy of the section of the naturopathic doctor’s standardized procedure relating to controlled substances shall be provided upon request, to a licensed pharmacist who dispenses drugs, when there is uncertainty about the naturopathic doctor furnishing the order.
(g) The committee has certified that the naturopathic doctor has satisfactorily completed adequate coursework in pharmacology covering the drugs to be furnished or ordered under this section. The committee shall establish the requirements for satisfactory completion of this subdivision.
(h) Use of the term “furnishing” in this section, in health facilities defined in subdivisions (b), (c), (d), (e), and (i) of Section 1250 of the Health and Safety Code, shall include both of the following:
(1) Ordering a drug in accordance with the standardized procedure.
(2) Transmitting an order of a supervising physician and surgeon.
(i) For purposes of this section, “drug order” or “order” means an order for medication which is dispensed to or for an ultimate user, issued by a naturopathic doctor as an individual practitioner, within the meaning of Section 1306.02 of Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(j) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the following apply:
(1) A drug order issued pursuant to this section shall be treated in the same manner as a prescription of the supervising physician.
(2) All references to prescription in this code and the Health and Safety Code shall include drug orders issued by naturopathic doctors.
(3) The signature of a naturopathic doctor on a drug order issued in accordance with this section shall be deemed to be the signature of a prescriber for purposes of this code and the Health and Safety Code.
(Amended by Stats. 2009, 4th Ex. Sess., Ch. 18, Sec. 28. (AB 20 4x) Effective October 23, 2009. Repealed as of January 1, 2022, pursuant to Section 3686.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018