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Title 21: Food and Drugs
Online Pharmacies
§ 1304.40 Notification by online pharmacies.

(a) Thirty days prior to offering a controlled substance for sale, delivery, distribution, or dispensing by means of the Internet, an online pharmacy shall:

(1) Notify the Administrator of its intent to do so by submitting an application for a modified registration in accordance with §§ 1301.13 and 1301.19 of this chapter, with such application containing the information required by this section; and

(2) Notify the State boards of pharmacy in any States in which the online pharmacy offers to sell, deliver, distribute, or dispense controlled substances.

(b) The following information must be included in the notification submitted under paragraph (a) of this section:

(1) The pharmacy's Internet Pharmacy Site Disclosure information required to be posted on the homepage of the online pharmacy's Internet site under section 311(c) of the Act (21 U.S.C. 831(c)) and § 1304.45 of this part.

(2) Certification that the information disclosed on its Internet site under the Internet Pharmacy Site Disclosure is true and accurate. The statement shall be in a form similar to the following: “The above-named pharmacy, a DEA registrant, certifies, under penalty of perjury, that the information contained in this statement is true and accurate.”

(3) Each Internet site address utilized by the online pharmacy and a certification that the online pharmacy shall notify the Administrator of any change in any such Internet address at least 30 days in advance. In the event that a pharmacy delivers, distributes, or dispenses controlled substances pursuant to orders made on, through, or on behalf of, more than one Web site, the pharmacy shall provide, for purposes of complying with this paragraph, the Internet site address of each such site.

(4) The DEA registration numbers of:

(i) Every pharmacy that delivers, distributes, or dispenses controlled substances pursuant to orders made on, through, or on behalf of, each Web site referred to in paragraph (b)(3) of this section; and

(ii) Every practitioner who has a contractual relationship to provide medical evaluations or issue prescriptions for controlled substances, through referrals from the Web site or at the request of the owner or operator of the Web site, or any employee or agent thereof.

(c) An online pharmacy that is in operation at the time Public Law 110-425 becomes effective (April 13, 2009) must make the notifications required in this section on or before May 13, 2009. However, in accordance with section 401(h) of the Act (21 U.S.C. 841(h)), as of April 13, 2009, it is unlawful for any online pharmacy to deliver, distribute, or dispense a controlled substance by means of the Internet unless such online pharmacy is validly registered with a modification of such registration authorizing such activity.

(d) On and after the date an online pharmacy makes the notifications required under this section, each online pharmacy shall display on the homepage of its Internet site, a declaration that it has made such notifications to the Administrator in the following form: “In accordance with the Controlled Substances Act and the DEA regulations, this online pharmacy has made the notifications to the DEA Administrator required by 21 U.S.C. 831 and 21 CFR 1304.40.”

(e)(1) Except as provided in paragraphs (e)(2) and (e)(3) of this section, if any of the information required to be submitted under this section changes after the online pharmacy submits the notification to the Administrator, the online pharmacy shall notify the Administrator of the updated information no later than 30 days before the change becomes effective via the online process.

(2) If a pharmacy referred to in paragraph (b)(4)(i) of this section ceases to deliver, distribute, or dispense controlled substances pursuant to orders made on, through, or on behalf of, each Web site referred to in paragraph (b)(3) of this section, the online pharmacy shall notify the Administrator no later than 30 days after the change becomes effective via the online process.

(3) If a practitioner referred to in paragraph (b)(4)(ii) of this section ceases to have a contractual relationship with the online pharmacy, the online pharmacy shall notify the Administrator no later than 30 days after the change becomes effective via the online process.

[74 FR 15623, Apr. 6, 2009]
§ 1304.45 Internet Web site disclosure requirements.

(a) Each online pharmacy shall display, at all times and in a visible and clear manner, on its homepage a statement that it complies with the requirements of section 311 of the Act (21 U.S.C. 831) with respect to the delivery or sale or offer for sale of controlled substances. This statement must include the name of the pharmacy as it appears on the DEA Certificate of Registration.

(b) Each online pharmacy shall clearly display the following information on the homepage of each Internet site it operates, or on a page directly linked to the homepage. If the information is displayed on a page directly linked to the homepage, that link on the homepage must be visible and clear. The information must be displayed for each pharmacy that delivers, distributes, or dispenses controlled substances pursuant to orders made on, through, or on behalf of that Web site.

(1) The name and address of the pharmacy as it appears on the pharmacy's DEA Certificate of Registration.

(2) The pharmacy's telephone number and e-mail address.

(3) The name, professional degree, and States of licensure of the pharmacist-in-charge, and a telephone number at which the pharmacist-in-charge can be contacted.

(4) A list of the States in which the pharmacy is licensed to dispense controlled substances.

(5) A certification that the pharmacy is registered under part 1301 of this chapter with a modification of its registration authorizing it to deliver, distribute, or dispense controlled substances by means of the Internet.

(6) The name, address, telephone number, professional degree, and States of licensure with State license number of any practitioner who has a contractual relationship to provide medical evaluations or issue prescriptions for controlled substances, through referrals from the Web site or at the request of the owner or operator of the Web site, or any employee or agent thereof.

(7) The following statement: “This online pharmacy is obligated to comply fully with the Controlled Substances Act and DEA regulations. As part of this obligation, this online pharmacy has obtained a modified DEA registration authorizing it to operate as an online pharmacy. In addition, this online pharmacy will only dispense a controlled substance to a person who has a valid prescription issued for a legitimate medical purpose based upon a medical relationship with a prescribing practitioner. This includes at least one prior in-person medical evaluation in accordance with section 309 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 829) or a medical evaluation via telemedicine in accordance with section 102(54) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802(54)).”

[74 FR 15623, Apr. 6, 2009]
§ 1304.50 Disclosure requirements for Web sites of nonpharmacy practitioners that dispense controlled substances by means of the Internet.

For a Web site to identify itself as being exempt from the definition of an online pharmacy by virtue of section 102(52)(B)(ii) of the Act (21 U.S.C. 802(52)(B)(ii)) and § 1300.04(h)(2) of this chapter, the Web site shall post in a visible and clear manner on its homepage, or on a page directly linked thereto in which the hyperlink is also visible and clear on the homepage, a list of the DEA-registered nonpharmacy practitioners who are affiliated with the Web site. Any nonpharmacy practitioner affiliated with such a Web site is responsible for compliance with this section. An institutional practitioner that otherwise complies with the requirements of the Act and this chapter will be deemed to meet the requirements of this section if, in lieu of posting the names of each affiliated individual practitioner, it posts its name (as it appears on its Certificate of Registration) in a visible and clear manner on its homepage and in a manner that identifies itself as being responsible for the operation of the Web site.

[74 FR 15623, Apr. 6, 2009]
§ 1304.55 Reports by online pharmacies.

(a) Each online pharmacy shall report to the Administrator the total quantity of each controlled substance that the pharmacy has dispensed each calendar month. The report must include the total quantity of such dispensing by any means, regardless of whether the controlled substances are dispensed by means of the Internet. Thus, such reporting shall include all controlled substances dispensed via Internet transactions, mail-order transactions, face-to-face transactions, or any other means. However, the pharmacy is not required to describe in its report to the Administrator such means of dispensing. Such reporting is required for every calendar month in which the total quantity of controlled substances dispensed by the pharmacy meets or exceeds one of the following thresholds:

(1) 100 or more prescriptions for controlled substances filled; or

(2) 5,000 or more dosage units dispensed of all controlled substances combined.

(b) Each online pharmacy shall report a negative response if, during a given calendar month, its total dispensing of controlled substances falls below both of the thresholds in paragraph (a) of this section.

(c) The reporting requirements of this section apply to every pharmacy that, at any time during a calendar month, holds a modified registration authorizing it to operate as an online pharmacy, regardless of whether the online pharmacy dispenses any controlled substances by means of the Internet during the month.

(d) Reports will be submitted to DEA electronically via online reporting, electronic file upload, or other means as approved by DEA.

(e) Reports shall be filed every month not later than the fifteenth day of the month succeeding the month for which they are submitted.

(f) An online pharmacy filing a report under paragraph (a) of this section shall utilize the National Drug Code number assigned to the product under the National Drug Code System of the Food and Drug Administration, and indicate the total number of dosage units dispensed for each such National Drug Code number.

(g) Records required to be kept under this section must be kept by the registrant for at least two years from the date of such records. The information shall be readily retrievable from the ordinary business records of the registrant and available for inspection and copying by authorized employees of the Administration.

[74 FR 15623, Apr. 6, 2009]
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