{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-218a.240","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 218A.240","heading":"Controlled substances -- Duties and authority of state and local officers,","body":"Cabinet for Health and Family Services, and Kentucky Board of Pharmacy --\nCivil proceedings -- Identification of trends -- Identification of prescribers,\ndispensers, and patients for licensing board -- Review of hospital's or health\ncare facility's prescribing and dispensing practices -- Notice to patients of\npractitioner's loss of prescribing privileges.\n(1) All police officers and deputy sheriffs directly employed fu ll-time by state, county,\ncity, urban-county, or consolidated local governments, the Department of Kentucky\nState Police, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, their officers and agents,\nand of all city, county, and Commonwealth's attorneys, and the Attorney General,\nwithin their respective jurisdictions, shall enforce all provisions of this chapter and\ncooperate with all agencies charged with the enforcement of the laws of the United\nStates, of this state, and of all other states relating to controlled substances.\n(2) For the purpose of enforcing the provisions of this chapter, the designated agents of\nthe Cabinet for Health and Family Services shall have the full power and authority\nof peace officers in this state, including the power of arrest and t he authority to bear\narms, and shall have the power and authority to administer oaths; to enter upon\npremises at all times for the purpose of making inspections; to seize evidence; to\ninterrogate all persons; to require the production of prescriptions, of books, papers,\ndocuments, or other evidence; to employ special investigators; and to expend funds\nfor the purpose of obtaining evidence and to use data obtained under KRS\n218A.202 in any administrative proceeding before the cabinet.\n(3) The Kentucky Board of Pharmacy, its agents and inspectors, shall have the same\npowers of inspection and enforcement as the Cabinet for Health and Family\nServices.\n(4) Designated agents of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the Kentucky\nBoard of Pharmacy are empow ered to remove from the files of a pharmacy or the\ncustodian of records for that pharmacy any controlled substance prescription or\nother controlled substance record upon tendering a receipt. The receipt shall be\nsufficiently detailed to accurately identify  the record. A receipt for the record shall\nbe a defense to a charge of failure to maintain the record.\n(5) Notwithstanding the existence or pursuit of any other remedy, civil or criminal, any\nlaw enforcement authority may maintain, in its own name, an act ion to restrain or\nenjoin any violation of this chapter or to forfeit any property subject to forfeiture\nunder KRS 218A.410, irrespective of whether the owner of the property has been\ncharged with or convicted of any offense under this chapter.\n(a) Any civil action against any person brought pursuant to this section may be\ninstituted in the Circuit Court in any county in which the person resides, in\nwhich any property owned by the person and subject to forfeiture is found, or\nin which the person has violated any provision of this chapter.\n(b) A final judgment rendered in favor of the Commonwealth in any criminal\nproceeding brought under this chapter shall estop the defendant from denying\nthe essential allegations of the criminal offense in any subsequent civ il\nproceeding brought pursuant to this section.\n(c) The prevailing party in any civil proceeding brought pursuant to this section\nshall recover his or her costs, including a reasonable attorney's fee.\n(d) Distribution of funds under this section shall be m ade in the same manner as\nin KRS 218A.420, except that if the Commonwealth's attorney has not\ninitiated the forfeiture action under this section, his or her percentage of the\nfunds shall go to the agency initiating the forfeiture action.\n(6) The Cabinet fo r Health and Family Services shall make or cause to be made\nexaminations of samples secured under the provisions of this chapter to determine\nwhether any provision has been violated.\n(7) (a) The Cabinet for Health and Family Services shall proactively use the data\ncompiled in the electronic system created in KRS 218A.202 for investigations,\nresearch, statistical analysis, and educational purposes and shall proactively\nidentify trends in controlled substance usage and other potential problem\nareas. Only cabinet personnel who have undergone training for the electronic\nsystem and who have been approved to use the system shall be authorized\naccess to the data and reports under this subsection. The cabinet shall notify a\nstate licensing board listed in KRS 218A.2 05 if a report or analysis conducted\nunder this subsection indicates that further investigation about improper,\ninappropriate or illegal prescribing or dispensing may be necessary by the\nboard. The board shall consider each report and may, after giving due\nconsideration to areas of practice, specialties, board certifications, and\nappropriate standards of care, request and receive a follow -up report or\nanalysis containing relevant information as to the prescriber or dispenser and\nhis or her patients.\n(b) The cabinet shall develop criteria, in collaboration with the Board of Medical\nLicensure, the Board of Nursing, the Office of Drug Control Policy, and the\nBoard of Pharmacy, to be used to generate public trend reports from the data\nobtained by the system. Mee tings at which the criteria are developed shall be\nmeetings, as defined in KRS 61.805, that comply with the open meetings\nlaws, KRS 61.805 to 61.850. The cabinet shall, on a quarterly basis, publish\ntrend reports from the data obtained by the system. Excep t as provided in\nsubsection (8) of this section, these trend reports shall not identify an\nindividual prescriber, dispenser, or patient. Peace officers authorized to\nreceive data under KRS 218A.202 may request trend reports not specifically\npublished pursuant to this paragraph except that the report shall not identify an\nindividual prescriber, dispenser, or patient.\n(8) If the cabinet deems it to be necessary and appropriate, upon the request of a state\nlicensing board listed in KRS 218A.205, the cabinet shall provide the requesting\nboard with the identity of prescribers, dispensers, and patients used to compile a\nspecific trend report.\n(9) Any hospital or other health care facility may petition the cabinet to review data\nfrom the electronic system specified in KRS 218A.202 as it relates to employees of\nthat facility to determine if inappropriate prescribing or dispensing practices are\noccurring. The cabinet may initiate any investigation in such cases as he or she\ndetermines is appropriate, and may request the assistance from the hospitals or\nhealth care facilities in the investigation.\n(10) If the office or clinic of a pr actitioner abruptly closes or is subject to emergency\nclosure or other enforcement action resulting in a suspension or termination of the\npractitioner's controlled substance prescribing privileges, the Cabinet for Health and\nFamily Services or applicable p rofessional licensing board may use data from the\nelectronic system established under KRS 218A.202 to issue notification as soon as\npracticable to the practitioner's patients to help prevent the disruption of medical\ntreatment and promote continuity of care.","path":["KRS Chapter 218A"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=49984","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:52:30Z","sha256":"67e5998bec9e3ba655503a1fc0050e98640596071094492da199b45c876e702c","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-218a.230","next":"us-ky/krs-218a.245"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}