Title 20 — Public Health and Welfare

(a) There is established on the books of the Treasurer of State, Auditor of State, and Chief Fiscal Officer of the State a fund to be known as the “State Health Department Building and Local Grant Trust Fund”. (b) The fund shall consist of such revenues as may be authorized by la…

(a) (1) The State Board of Health may develop and implement rules to receive, review, and approve applications for grants for new construction, renovation, or expansion of local health unit facilities from counties or cities.(2) The board may adopt such rules as may be necessary …

Participation in the grant programs shall be conditioned on compliance with this subchapter and any rules or regulations of the State Board of Health promulgated under this subchapter.

This subchapter shall be entitled the “State Health Data Clearinghouse Act”.

The General Assembly finds that as a result of rising healthcare costs, the shortage of health professionals and healthcare services in many areas of the state, and the concerns expressed by care providers, consumers, third-party payors, and others involved with planning for the …

(a) With the approval of the State Board of Health, the Secretary of the Department of Health shall compile and disseminate health data collected by the Department of Health. (b) (1) In consultation with advisory groups appointed by the secretary with representation from hospital…

The Secretary of the Department of Health may release data collected under this subchapter, except that data released shall not include any information which identifies or could be used to identify any individual patient, provider, institution, or health plan except as provided i…

(a) The State Board of Health shall prescribe and enforce such rules as may be necessary to carry out this subchapter, including the manner in which data are collected, maintained, compiled, and disseminated, and including such rules as may be necessary to promote and protect the…

(a) The Secretary of the Department of Health shall prepare and submit a biennial report to the Governor and the House Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor and the Senate Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor or appropriate subcommittees thereof. (b) The Depart…

(a) (1) Any person, firm, corporation, organization, or institution that violates any of the provisions of this subchapter or any rules promulgated under this subchapter regarding confidentiality of information shall be guilty of a Class C misdemeanor.(2) Each day of violation sh…

All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this subchapter are repealed, except that nothing in this subchapter shall be interpreted to repeal any provision which authorizes the Health Services Permit Agency to gather such data as may be necessary to conduct permit-of-approval a…

The Department of Health shall maintain and update as part of its database under this subchapter a list of substances that may be used to adulterate urine or other bodily fluids that may be used in or used to interfere with a drug or alcohol screening test.

Nothing in this act shall be construed to encourage, conflict, or otherwise interfere with the preemption of state and local laws under any federal laws or United States Department of Transportation regulations related to drug testing procedures and confidentiality.

This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Department of Health Public Health Laboratory Act of 2003”.

It is the purpose of this subchapter to better serve the citizens of Arkansas by providing for the construction and equipping of a modern public health laboratory.

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Authority” means the Arkansas Development Finance Authority;(2) “Authorizing resolution” means the resolution or resolutions adopted by the State Board of Health authorizing the loan;(3) “Building” means the state building of the Department of …

(a) (1) The laboratory shall be constructed subject to approval by the State Board of Health.(2) The board may take such action as may be appropriate for the renovation of the building and any facilities necessarily related to the building. (1) The laboratory shall be constructed…

(a) (1) To finance the construction of the laboratory and renovation of the building, the State Board of Health may enter into a loan from the Arkansas Development Finance Authority in the principal amount of not more than twenty-six million dollars ($26,000,000) under the Arkans…

(a) The payment and other obligations of the State Board of Health under and with respect to the loan shall be secured by a pledge of the fee revenues, subject to the terms of this subchapter and the reserved power to release fee revenues as set forth in this subchapter. (b) The …

(1) In addition to the fees authorized by § 20-7-123(b)(1)(H) and (I), the following fees shall be collected and credited to the State Board of Health Laboratory Revenue Fund:(1) A fee of seven dollars ($7.00) collected by the State Registrar of Vital Records for the making and c…

(a) (1) Except as set forth in this subchapter, all fee revenues shall be treated as cash funds and shall not be deposited into the State Treasury, but shall be deposited as and when received into a bank or banks approved by the State Board of Health or the Secretary of the Depar…

The proceeds of the loan other than amounts required to establish reserves, to pay interest on the loan for a period not to exceed one (1) year, or to pay costs of the loan and of issuing bonds, all of which shall be set forth in written directions executed by the Secretary of th…

(a) All moneys held at any time in the State Board of Health Laboratory Revenue Fund and the State Board of Health Public Health Laboratory Construction Fund shall be invested and reinvested to the extent feasible, as directed by the Secretary of the Department of Health. (b) All…

(a) The authorizing resolution and each agreement or other writing executed and delivered pursuant to it or to this subchapter, together with this subchapter, shall constitute a contract between the State Board of Health and the Arkansas Development Finance Authority, and the obl…

Neither the Secretary of the Department of Health nor any member of the State Board of Health shall be personally liable on the loan or on account of any of the obligations or actions undertaken in connection with the loan, or for any damages sustained by anyone with respect to t…

This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Arkansas Health-Conscious Shopper Act”.

(a) The General Assembly finds that shopping cart handles may be contaminated with bodily fluids such as blood, saliva, mucus, and even urine and fecal matter. (b) This subchapter is intended to:(1) Increase awareness of Arkansas shoppers, infants, and young children about potent…

(a) There is created the Arkansas Health-Conscious Shopper Program. (b) Under the program, each Arkansas business that uses shopping carts or infant carriers is encouraged to voluntarily provide consumers with sanitation wipes at the entrance of its business on or before January …

The Department of Health shall develop guidelines for businesses in the appropriate types and use of sanitation wipes for shopping cart handles.

This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Act”.

(1) The purpose of this subchapter is to protect the state health system and the citizens of Arkansas by:(1) Enhancing patient care by providing prescription monitoring information that will ensure legitimate use of controlled substances in health care, including palliative care,…

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) (A) “Arkansas Medicaid prescription drug program” means the prescription drug program that is a portion of the Title XIX Medicaid program for the State of Arkansas.(B) The Arkansas Medicaid prescription drug program includes any entity contracte…

(a) The State Board of Health shall create the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program upon the Department of Health's procuring adequate funding to establish the program. (b) (1) Each dispenser shall submit to the department information regarding each controlled substance dispensed…

(a) The Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Advisory Committee shall be created by the State Board of Health upon the Department of Health’s procuring adequate funding to establish the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. (b) The mission of the committee is to consult with and …

(a) Prescription information submitted to the Department of Health under this subchapter is confidential and not subject to the Freedom of Information Act of 1967, § 25-19-101 et seq. (b) (1) The controlled substances database created in this subchapter and all information contai…

(a) (1) (A) (i) The Department of Health shall review the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program information, including without limitation a review to identify information that appears to indicate whether a person is obtaining prescriptions in a manner that may represent misuse or …

(a) The Department of Health may provide prescription monitoring information to federal prescription drug monitoring programs or other states' prescription drug monitoring programs, and the information may be used by those programs consistent with this subchapter. (b) The departm…

(a) The Department of Health may contract with another agency of this state or with a private vendor, as necessary, to ensure the effective operation of the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. (b) A contractor shall be bound to comply with the provisions regarding confidentiali…

(a) The Department of Health may make application for, receive, and administer grant funding from public or private sources for the development, implementation, or enhancement of the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. (b) A fee shall not be levied against practitioners for the…

(a) (1) It is unlawful for a dispenser to purposely fail to submit prescription monitoring information as required under this subchapter.(2) A violation of subdivision (a)(1) of this section is a Class B misdemeanor. (1) It is unlawful for a dispenser to purposely fail to submit …

This subchapter does not give authority to any person, agency, corporation, or other legal entity to invade the privacy of any citizen as defined by the General Assembly, the courts, or the United States Constitution or the Arkansas Constitution other than to the extent provided …

The State Board of Health shall adopt rules to implement this subchapter.

(a) The Prescription Drug Monitoring Program shall become operational March 1, 2013, if full funding is available under § 20-7-610. (b) The Secretary of the Department of Health may suspend operation of the program if adequate funding under § 20-7-610 ceases.

(a) A prescriber who has been found by his or her licensing board to be in violation of a rule or law involving prescription drugs shall be required by the appropriate licensing board to register with the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program and access patient information before …

This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Combating Prescription Drug Abuse Act”.

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Chronic nonmalignant pain” means pain requiring more than three (3) consecutive months of prescriptions for:(A) An opioid that is written for more than the equivalent of ninety (90) tablets, each containing five milligrams (5 mg) of hydrocodone…

(a) A hospital with an emergency department shall adopt guidelines concerning opioid prescribing in the emergency department. (b) The guidelines shall be drafted jointly by the emergency department physicians and medical staff and approved by the governing body of the hospital. (…

(a) (1) Within the first two (2) years of being granted a license in the state, a prescriber shall obtain a minimum of two (2) hours of prescribing education approved by the appropriate licensing board.(2) The education approved by the appropriate licensing board under subdivisio…

(a) A licensing board that licenses individuals with prescriptive authority shall adopt rules that are at least as stringent as the rules of the Arkansas State Medical Board concerning use of narcotics for the treatment of pain not associated with malignant or terminal illness. (…

A patient who is being treated with controlled substances for chronic nonmalignant pain shall be evaluated at least one (1) time every six (6) months by a physician who is licensed by the Arkansas State Medical Board.