{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-218a.205","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 218A.205","heading":"Reports of improper, inappropriate, or illegal prescribing or dispensing","body":"of controlled substances -- Administrative regulations for prescribing and\ndispensing protocols and licensure actions and requirements -- Presumption of\nmedical necessity -- Complaint procedure -- Criminal record check.\n(1) As used in this section:\n(a) \"Reporting agency\" includes:\n1. The Department of Kentucky State Police;\n2. The Office of the Attorney General;\n3. The Cabinet for Health and Family Services; and\n4. The applicable state licensing board; and\n(b) \"State licensing board\" means:\n1. The Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure;\n2. The Kentucky Board of Nursing;\n3. The Kentucky Board of Dentistry;\n4. The Kentucky Board of Optometric Examiners;\n5. The State Board of Podiatry; and\n6. Any other board that licenses or regulates a person who is entitled to\nprescribe or dispense controlled substances to humans.\n(2) (a) When a reporting agency or a law enforc ement agency receives a report of\nimproper, inappropriate, or illegal prescribing or dispensing of a controlled\nsubstance it may, to the extent otherwise allowed by law, send a copy of the\nreport within three (3) business days to every other reporting agency.\n(b) A county attorney or Commonwealth's attorney shall notify the Office of the\nAttorney General and the appropriate state licensing board within three (3)\nbusiness days of an indictment or a waiver of indictment becoming public in\nhis or her jurisdict ion charging a licensed person with a felony offense\nrelating to the manufacture of, trafficking in, prescribing, dispensing, or\npossession of a controlled substance.\n(3) Each state licensing board shall, in consultation with the Kentucky Office of Drug\nControl Policy, establish the following by administrative regulation for those\nlicensees authorized to prescribe or dispense controlled substances:\n(a) Mandatory prescribing and dispensing standards related to controlled\nsubstances, the requirements of which  shall include the diagnostic, treatment,\nreview, and other protocols and standards established for Schedule II\ncontrolled substances under KRS 218A.172 and which may include the\nexemptions authorized by KRS 218A.172(4);\n(b) In accord with the CDC Guidelin e for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain\npublished in 2016, a prohibition on a practitioner issuing a prescription for a\nSchedule II controlled substance for more than a three (3) day supply of a\nSchedule II controlled substance if the prescription is in tended to treat pain as\nan acute medical condition, with the following exceptions:\n1. The practitioner, in his or her professional judgment, believes that more\nthan a three (3) day supply of a Schedule II controlled substance is\nmedically necessary to trea t the patient's pain as an acute medical\ncondition and the practitioner adequately documents the acute medical\ncondition and lack of alternative treatment options which justifies\ndeviation from the three (3) day supply limit established in this\nsubsection in the patient's medical records;\n2. The prescription for a Schedule II controlled substance is prescribed to\ntreat chronic pain;\n3. The prescription for a Schedule II controlled substance is prescribed to\ntreat pain associated with a valid cancer diagnosis;\n4. The prescription for a Schedule II controlled substance is prescribed to\ntreat pain while the patient is receiving hospice or end -of-life treatment\nor is receiving care from a certified community based palliative care\nprogram;\n5. The prescription for  a Schedule II controlled substance is prescribed as\npart of a narcotic treatment program licensed by the Cabinet for Health\nand Family Services;\n6. The prescription for a Schedule II controlled substance is prescribed to\ntreat pain following a major surge ry or the treatment of significant\ntrauma, as defined by the state licensing board in consultation with the\nKentucky Office of Drug Control Policy;\n7. The Schedule II controlled substance is dispensed or administered\ndirectly to an ultimate user in an inpatient setting; or\n8. Any additional treatment scenario deemed medically necessary by the\nstate licensing board in consultation with the Kentucky Office of Drug\nControl Policy.\nNothing in this paragraph shall authorize a state licensing board to promulgate\nregulations which expand any practitioner's prescriptive authority beyond that\nwhich existed prior to June 29, 2017;\n(c) A prohibition on a practitioner dispensing greater than a forty -eight (48) hour\nsupply of any Schedule II controlled substance unless the dispensing is done\nas part of a narcotic treatment program licensed by the Cabinet for Health and\nFamily Services;\n(d) A procedure for temporarily suspending, limiting, or restricting a license held\nby a named licensee where a substantial likelihood ex ists to believe that the\ncontinued unrestricted practice by the named licensee would constitute a\ndanger to the health, welfare, or safety of the licensee's patients or of the\ngeneral public;\n(e) A procedure for the expedited review of complaints filed aga inst their\nlicensees pertaining to the improper, inappropriate, or illegal prescribing or\ndispensing of controlled substances that is designed to commence an\ninvestigation within seven (7) days of a complaint being filed and produce a\ncharging decision by the board on the complaint within one hundred twenty\n(120) days of the receipt of the complaint, unless an extension for a definite\nperiod of time is requested by a law enforcement agency due to an ongoing\ncriminal investigation;\n(f) The establishment and enforcement of licensure standards that conform to the\nfollowing:\n1. A permanent ban on licensees and applicants convicted after July 20,\n2012, in this state or any other state of any felony offense relating to\ncontrolled substances from prescribing or dis pensing a controlled\nsubstance;\n2. Restrictions short of a permanent ban on licensees and applicants\nconvicted in this state or any other state of any misdemeanor offense\nrelating to prescribing or dispensing a controlled substance;\n3. Restrictions mirroring in time and scope any disciplinary limitation\nplaced on a licensee or applicant by a licensing board of another state if\nthe disciplinary action results from improper, inappropriate, or illegal\nprescribing or dispensing of controlled substances; and\n4. A requirement that licensees and applicants report to the board any\nconviction or disciplinary action covered by this subsection with\nappropriate sanctions for any failure to make this required report;\n(g) A procedure for the continuous  submission of all disciplinary and other\nreportable information to the National Practitioner Data Bank of the United\nStates Department of Health and Human Services;\n(h) If not otherwise required by other law, a process for submitting a query on\neach appli cant for licensure to the National Practitioner Data Bank of the\nUnited States Department of Health and Human Services to retrieve any\nrelevant data on the applicant; and\n(i) Continuing education requirements that specify that at least seven and one -\nhalf p ercent (7.5%) of the continuing education required of the licensed\npractitioner relate to the use of the electronic monitoring system established in\nKRS 218A.202, pain management, addiction disorders, or pediatric ingestion\nor inhalation of controlled subs tances, and include one (1) hour on the\nrecognition and prevention of pediatric ingestion or inhalation of controlled\nsubstances.\n(4) For the purposes of pharmacy dispensing, the medical necessity for a Schedule II\ncontrolled substance as documented by the  practitioner in the patient's medical\nrecord and the prescription for more than a three (3) day supply of that controlled\nsubstance are presumed to be valid.\n(5) A state licensing board shall employ or obtain the services of a specialist in the\ntreatment of pain and a specialist in drug addiction to evaluate information received\nregarding a licensee's prescribing or dispensing practices related to controlled\nsubstances if the board or its staff does not possess such expertise, to ascertain if the\nlicensee under investigation is engaging in improper, inappropriate, or illegal\npractices.\n(6) Any statute to the contrary notwithstanding, no state licensing board shall require\nthat a grievance or complaint against a licensee relating to controlled substances be\nsworn to or notarized, but the grievance or complaint shall identify the name and\naddress of the grievant or complainant, unless the board by administrative\nregulation authorizes the filing of anonymous complaints. Any such authorizing\nadministrative regulation shall require that an anonymous complaint or grievance be\naccompanied by sufficient corroborating evidence as would allow the board to\nbelieve, based upon a totality of the circumstances, that a reasonable probability\nexists that the complaint or grievance is meritorious.\n(7) Every state licensing board shall cooperate to the maximum extent permitted by law\nwith all state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies, and all professional\nlicensing boards and agencies, state and federal, in the United States or its\nterritories in the coordination of actions to deter the improper, inappropriate, or\nillegal prescribing or dispensing of a controlled substance.\n(8) Each state licensing board shall require a fingerprint -supported criminal record\ncheck by the  Department of Kentucky State Police and the Federal Bureau of\nInvestigation of any applicant for initial licensure to practice any profession\nauthorized to prescribe or dispense controlled substances.","path":["KRS Chapter 218A"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=57469","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:52:30Z","sha256":"c5f238abcc82f803a84bacf5e4eecef2c058e31090a8b86782167fce141100d9","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-218a.204","next":"us-ky/krs-218a.210"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}