New York A 4732: Requires that pharmacists get express written consent before substituting a drug product for a less expensive drug product

Bill Text

Bill Search and Legislative Information | New York State Assembly 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

 Skip to main content 

 New York State Assembly

 Speaker Carl E. Heastie

 --> 
 --> 

 --> 

• 
 Assembly Members 

• 
 Legislative Info 

• 
 Public Hearings 

• 
 Speaker's Press 

• 
 Assembly Reports 

• 
 Committees & More 

• Bill Search Home
• Laws
• Legislative Calendar
• Public Hearing Schedule
• Assembly Calendars
• Assembly Committee Agenda 

 Javascript must be enabled to properly view this page. 

 Bill No.: 

• Summary 
• Actions 
• Committee&nbspVotes 
• Floor&nbspVotes 
• Memo 
• Text 
• LFIN 
• Chamber&nbspVideo/Transcript 
A04732 Summary:

BILL NOA04732 

&nbsp

SAME ASNo Same As

&nbsp

SPONSORRamos

&nbsp

COSPNSR

&nbsp

MLTSPNSR

&nbsp

Amd §6816-a, Ed L

&nbsp

Requires that pharmacists get express written consent before substituting a drug product for a less expensive drug product, including biological products.

Go to top A04732 Actions:

BILL NOA04732 

&nbsp

02/06/2025referred to higher education

01/07/2026referred to higher education

Go to topA04732 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topA04732 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topA04732 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 4732

 2025-2026 Regular Sessions

 IN ASSEMBLY

 February 6, 2025
 ___________

 Introduced by M. of A. RAMOS -- read once and referred to the Committee
 on Higher Education

 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring patient
 consent when substituting medication

 The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
 bly, do enact as follows:

 1 Section 1. Subdivisions 1, 2 and 3 of section 6816-a of the education
 2 law, subdivisions 1 and 2 as added by chapter 776 of the laws of 1977,
 3 paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 913 of the laws of
 4 1986, and subdivision 3 as added by chapter 357 of the laws of 2017, are
 5 amended to read as follows:
 6 1. A pharmacist shall substitute a less expensive drug product
 7 containing the same active ingredients, dosage form and strength as the
 8 drug product prescribed, ordered or demanded, provided that the follow-
 9 ing conditions are met:
 10 (a) The prescription is written on a form which meets the requirements
 11 of subdivision six of section sixty-eight hundred ten of this article
 12 and the prescriber does not prohibit substitution, or in the case of
 13 oral prescriptions, the prescriber must expressly state whether substi-
 14 tution is to be permitted or prohibited. Any oral prescription that does
 15 not include such an express statement shall not be filled; and
 16 (b) The substituted drug product is contained in the list of drug
 17 products established pursuant to paragraph (o) of subdivision one of
 18 section two hundred six of the public health law; and
 19 (c) The pharmacist shall indicate on the label affixed to the immedi-
 20 ate container in which the drug is sold or dispensed the name and
 21 strength of the drug product and its manufacturer unless the prescriber
 22 specifically states otherwise. The pharmacist shall record on the
 23 prescription form the brand name or the name of the manufacturer of the
 24 drug product dispensed; and

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD05242-01-5

 A. 4732 2

 1 (d) The patient who shall receive the drug product gives express writ-
 2 ten consent that the pharmacist may substitute such drug product for a
 3 less expensive drug product.
 4 2. In the event a patient chooses to have a prescription filled by an
 5 out of state dispenser, [the laws of that state shall prevail] such
 6 out-of-state dispenser shall receive express written consent from the
 7 patient who shall receive the drug product that such drug product may be
 8 substituted for a less expensive drug product.
 9 3. A pharmacist shall substitute a less expensive biological product
 10 for a prescribed biological product provided that all of the following
 11 conditions are met:
 12 (a) the substituted biological product is either an interchangeable
 13 biological product for the prescribed product or the substituted biolog-
 14 ical product is one for which the prescribed product is an interchangea-
 15 ble biological product;
 16 (b) the prescriber does not designate that a substitution is prohibit-
 17 ed as described in subdivision six of section sixty-eight hundred ten of
 18 this article; [and]
 19 (c) the pharmacist indicates on the label affixed to the immediate
 20 container in which the biological product is sold or distributed the
 21 name and strength of the product and its manufacturer unless the pres-
 22 criber specifically states otherwise; and
 23 (d) the patient who shall receive the biological product gives express
 24 written consent that the pharmacist may substitute suc