Montana Code Annotated 2019

TITLE 37. PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS

CHAPTER 2. GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONERS

Part 1. Prescribing and Dispensing of Drugs

Dispensing Of Drugs By Medical Practitioners Unlawful -- Exceptions

37-2-104. Dispensing of drugs by medical practitioners unlawful -- exceptions. (1) Except as otherwise provided by this section, it is unlawful for a medical practitioner to engage, directly or indirectly, in the dispensing of drugs.

(2) This section does not prohibit any of the following:

(a) a medical practitioner from furnishing a patient any drug in an emergency;

(b) the administration of a unit dose of a drug to a patient by or under the supervision of a medical practitioner;

(c) dispensing a drug to a patient by a medical practitioner whenever there is no community pharmacy available to the patient;

(d) the dispensing of drugs occasionally, but not as a usual course of doing business, by a medical practitioner;

(e) a medical practitioner from dispensing drug samples;

(f) the dispensing of factory prepackaged contraceptives, other than mifepristone, by a registered nurse employed by a family planning clinic under contract with the department of public health and human services if the dispensing is in accordance with:

(i) a physician's written protocol specifying the circumstances under which dispensing is appropriate; and

(ii) the drug labeling, storage, and recordkeeping requirements of the board of pharmacy;

(g) a contract physician at an urban Indian clinic from dispensing drugs to qualified patients of the clinic. The clinic may not stock or dispense any dangerous drug, as defined in 50-32-101, or any controlled substance. The contract physician may not delegate the authority to dispense any drug for which a prescription is required under 21 U.S.C. 353(b).

(h) a medical practitioner from dispensing a drug if the medical practitioner has prescribed the drug and verified that the drug is not otherwise available from a community pharmacy. A drug dispensed pursuant to this subsection (2)(h) must meet the labeling requirements of the board of pharmacy.

(i) a medical practitioner from dispensing an opioid antagonist as provided in 50-32-605.

History: En. Sec. 3, Ch. 311, L. 1971; R.C.M. 1947, 27-903; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 22, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 472, L. 1989; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 445, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 57, Ch. 418, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 86, Ch. 546, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 125, L. 2007; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 166, L. 2009; amd. Sec. 12, Ch. 253, L. 2017.