(a) In addition to the duties authorized by other statutes, the department shall perform all of the following: (1) License the establishment of narcotic treatment programs in this state to use narcotic replacement therapy in the treatment of addicted persons whose addiction was acquired or supported by the use of a narcotic drug or drugs, not in compliance with a physician and surgeonâs legal prescription, except that the Research Advisory Panel shall have authority to approve methadone research programs. The department shall establish and enforce the criteria for the eligibility of patients to be included in the programs, program operation guidelines, such as dosage levels, recordkeeping and reporting, urinalysis requirements, take-home doses of controlled substances authorized for use pursuant to Section 11839.2, security against redistribution of the narcotic replacement drugs, and any other regulations that are necessary to protect the safety and well-being of the patient, the local community, and the public, and to carry out this chapter. A program may admit a patient to narcotic maintenance or narcotic detoxification treatment at the discretion of the medical director. The program shall assign a unique identifier to, and maintain an individual record for, each patient of the program. The arrest and conviction records and the records of pending charges against a person seeking admission to a narcotic treatment program shall be furnished to narcotic treatment program directors upon written request of the narcotic treatment program director provided the request is accompanied by a signed release from the person whose records are being requested. (2) Inspect narcotic treatment programs in this state and ensure that programs are operating in accordance with the law and regulations. The department shall have sole responsibility for compliance inspections of all programs in each county. Annual compliance inspections shall consist of an evaluation by onsite review of the operations and records of licensed narcotic treatment programsâ compliance with applicable state and federal laws and regulations and the evaluation of input from local law enforcement and local governments, regarding concerns about the narcotic treatment program. At the conclusion of each inspection visit, the department shall conduct an exit conference to explain the cited deficiencies to the program staff and to provide recommendations to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations. The department shall provide an inspection report to the licensee within 30 days of the completed onsite review describing the program deficiencies. A corrective action plan shall be required from the program within 30 days of receipt of the inspection report. All corrective actions contained in the plan shall be implemented within 30 days of receipt of approval by the department of the corrective action plan submitted by the narcotic treatment program. For programs found not to be in compliance, a subsequent inspection of the program shall be conducted within 30 days after the receipt of the corrective action plan in order to ensure that corrective action has been implemented satisfactorily. Subsequent inspections of the program shall be conducted to determine and ensure that the corrective action has been implemented satisfactorily. For purposes of this requirement, âcomplianceâ shall mean to have not committed any of the grounds for suspension or revocation of a license provided for under subdivision (a) of Section 11839.9 or paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 11839.9. Inspection of narcotic treatment programs shall be based on objective criteria including, but not limited to, an evaluation of the programsâ adherence to all applicable laws and regulations and input from local law enforcement and local governments. Nothing in this section shall preclude counties from monitoring their contract providers for compliance with contract requirements. (3)
‹ Prev All California sections Next ›
Lexace provides legal information, not legal advice, and no attorney–client relationship is created. Statute text is provided for general information and may not reflect the most recent amendments; verify against the official state code.