1. Home
  2. licensees
  3. Controlled Substance Prescription Form Serial Number Requirement

Controlled Substance Prescription Form Serial Number Requirement

Effective January 1, 2019, Assembly Bill 1753 (Low, 2018) will require an additional improvement to controlled substance security prescription forms: the addition of a unique serialized number to each form in a format approved by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Thus, as of January 1, 2019:

  1. Each controlled substance security prescription form used for prescribing on or after that date must include a unique serialized number in an approved format (Health & Safety Code, section 11162.1, subdivision (a)(15)); and
  2. No person shall prescribe a controlled substance on or after that date, nor fill, compound, or dispense a prescription for a controlled substance written on or after that date, without this security feature (Health & Safety Code, section 11164, subdivision (a)).

Under the new statutes, the new security forms will be the exclusive means to write paper-controlled substance prescriptions as of January 1, 2019, and as of that date any prescription written on a controlled substance security prescription form that does not bear all of the 15 security features will be presumptively invalid.

The Physician Assistant Board encourages you to order new forms with the new serial number requirement and utilize e-prescribing when applicable. Visit DOJ's website for more information. In addition, please review the notice from the Board of Pharmacy providing implementation guidance to their licensees.