This is an unofficial version. If you need an official copy, contact the King's Printer.
Search this document and show paragraphs with hits
You can use wild cards:
'*' allows for 0 or more characters (eg. ceas* will match 'cease', 'ceased', 'ceasing' and 'ceases')
'?' allows for 0 or 1 character (eg. cease? will match 'cease', 'ceases' and 'ceased', but not 'ceasing')
This search is not case sensitive.
S.M. 1994, c. 1
The Prescription Drugs Cost Assistance Amendment and Pharmaceutical Amendment Act
(Assented to July 5, 1994)
HER MAJESTY, by and with the consent of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, enacts as follows:
THE PRESCRIPTION DRUGS COST ASSISTANCE ACT
The Prescription Drugs Cost Assistance Act is amended by this Part.
The definition "specified drug" in section 1 is repealed and the following is substituted:
"specified drug" means a drug or other item that is specified in the regulations; (« médicament couvert »)
Subsection 2(1) of the English version is amended by striking out "for his own use or the use of his eligible dependants" and substituting "for his or her own use or the use of his or her eligible dependants".
Subsection 2(2) is amended by striking out "If authorized under the regulations, benefits" and substituting "Benefits".
Section 3 of the English version is amended by striking out "or the use of his eligible dependants" and substituting "or the use of his or her eligible dependants".
Section 4 is repealed and the following is substituted:
False or misleading information
4 Every person who provides or allows to be provided false or misleading information for the purpose of obtaining a benefit is guilty of an offence and is liable, on summary conviction,
(a) in the case of an individual, to a fine of not more than $5,000.; and
(b) in the case of a corporation, to a fine of not more than $50,000.
Section 5 is repealed and the following is substituted:
An individual who is convicted of an offence under section 4 forfeits any right to receive benefits in respect of the benefit period to which the offence relates and in respect of the next following benefit period, in addition to any penalty imposed under that section.
Section 6 is amended by striking out "not less than $100. and not more than $500." and substituting "not more than $5,000.".
Section 7 is amended by striking out "not less than $100. and not more than $500." and substituting "not more than $5,000.".
Section 8 is repealed and the following is substituted:
Every person who issues a receipt, or submits a claim for benefits on behalf of an eligible person,
(a) for the cost of a specified drug, without dispensing the specified drug; or
(b) for the cost of a specified drug, in excess of the amount actually paid for the specified drug;
is guilty of an offence and is liable, on summary conviction, in the case of an individual to a fine of not more than $5,000. and in the case of a corporation to a fine of not more than $50,000.
The following is added after section 8:
"Registration certificate" defined
In this section, "registration certificate" means a registration certificate issued to a person under section 40 of The Health Services Insurance Act.
Inspection of registration certificate
A purchaser of a specified drug who holds a registration certificate shall, upon being requested to do so, present the registration certificate to the pharmacist for inspection and, where the specified drug is being purchased for the purchaser's dependant who also holds a registration certificate, the purchaser shall in addition so present that registration certificate for inspection.
Refusal to present certificate
Where a purchaser of a specified drug refuses to comply with subsection (2), the pharmacist shall refuse to fill the prescription unless and until the purchaser complies.
Subsection 9(1) is amended
(a) by repealing the section heading and substituting "Regulations by L. G. in C.";
(b) by repealing clauses (e) and (f); and
(c) in the English version of clause (g), by striking out "applying for benefits" and substituting "claiming benefits".
The following is added after subsection 9(1):
The minister may make regulations
(a) specifying drugs and other items in respect of the cost of which benefits may be paid;
(b) prescribing procedures for claiming and paying benefits, including limiting the time within which claims for benefits may be made;
(c) requiring any specified document used under this Act or the regulations to be in a form acceptable to the minister;
(d) specifying persons, purposes and conditions for the purposes of clause 10(5)(j);
(e) prescribing fees payable for information provided from its records by the branch of the government administering this Act under the minister.
Subsections 10(1) and (2) are repealed and the following is substituted:
For the purpose of verifying any information on the basis of which a claim for benefits is made, the minister, or any person authorized in writing by the minister for the purpose, may request any medical practitioner, dentist or pharmacist to produce records relating to the prescription or dispensing of specified drugs for the purpose of making copies, photographs or extracts of or from the records, and the production of records by the medical practitioner, dentist or pharmacist upon such a request shall not, in any matter, be considered as a breach of confidence between the medical practitioner, dentist or pharmacist and any patient or customer.
Where, upon a request made under subsection (1), a medical practitioner, dentist or pharmacist refuses to produce records relating to the prescription or dispensing of specified drugs, the minister, or any person authorized in writing by the minister for the purposes of subsection (1), may apply ex parte to a justice for an order requiring the medical practitioner, dentist or pharmacist to produce the records as requested under subsection (1) for the purposes of subsection (1), and the justice, if satisfied on the evidence that it is reasonably necessary for the administration of this Act that the request be complied with, may make such an order.
Subsections 10(4) and (5) are repealed and the following is substituted:
Except as permitted under this section, no person shall
(a) knowingly allow any other person to inspect, or to have access to, any record obtained under subsection (1) or (2) or any copy, photograph or extract of or from such a record; or
(b) knowingly communicate or allow to be communicated, to any other person, information obtained under or in the course of the administration and enforcement of this Act.
Subsection (4) does not prohibit the disclosure of information obtained under or in the course of the administration and enforcement of this Act
(a) to the person who is the subject of the information;
(b) with the informed, written consent of the person who is the subject of the information, given at the time the disclosure is sought to be made;
(c) where the person who is the subject of the information is under the age of 14 years, with the informed, written consent of the parent or legal guardian of the person, given at the time the disclosure is sought to be made;
(d) where the person who is the subject of the information is 14 years of age or over but is not mentally competent to give the consent required under clause (b), with the informed, written consent of the person entitled to make medical treatment decisions on his or her behalf under The Mental Health Act;
(e) to a health care professional engaged in the direct care of the person who is the subject of the information, where it is not reasonably possible to obtain the consent required under clause (b), (c) or (d) and, in the opinion of the minister or a person authorized by the minister, the disclosure would clearly benefit the person who is the subject of the information;
(f) to persons charged with the administration and enforcement of this Act, or of any other Act of the Legislature or of another province of Canada or of Canada relating to the subject matter of this Act;
(g) to a pharmacist, or to a person authorized to practise medicine or dentistry or another health care profession and in that capacity to prescribe, dispense or administer drugs or devices, for the purpose of enabling the pharmacist or person to dispense a drug or device safely;
(h) to any regulatory body governing a profession mentioned in clause (g), for the purpose of investigating the abuse or misuse or the inappropriate or fraudulent prescribing of drugs or devices;
(i) where the information is in statistical form and does not contain the name of, or other means of identifying, the person who is the subject of the information; or
(j) to any person specified in the regulations, for the purpose and subject to the conditions there set out.
Restriction on further disclosure
A person to whom information is disclosed under this section shall not disclose it or allow it to be disclosed to any other person, unless it is to be used for the purpose for which it was originally disclosed or for any of the other purposes set out in subsection (5).
A person who discloses information in breach of this section, or who knowingly and without authorization obtains access to information obtained under this Act, is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction, in the case of an individual, to a fine of not more than $5,000. and, in the case of a corporation, to a fine of not more than $50,000.
Section 11 is repealed and the following is substituted:
Additional information from claimant
Where a person claims a benefit on the basis of information furnished, the minister may require proof of that information and may require further information, in addition to any proof or information required under the regulations, before authorizing payment of the benefit.
The following is added after section 11:
Benefits not liable to attachment
No amount payable as a benefit to an eligible person is liable to execution, seizure or attachment in any proceeding or under any Act of the Legislature.
Where, after paying a benefit to a person, it is determined
(a) that the benefit was paid in error;
(b) that the information on the basis of which the benefit was paid was false or inaccurate; or
(c) that the person was or has become disentitled to receive the benefit for any reason;
the minister, on behalf of the Crown, may recover the amount of the benefit from the person by action in a court of competent jurisdiction or by way of set-off against future benefits payable to the person.
Proceedings in respect of an offence under this Act or the regulations may be commenced within two years after the minister receives knowledge of the commission of the offence, but not afterwards.
THE PHARMACEUTICAL ACT
The Pharmaceutical Act is amended by this Part.
The following is added after section 63:
Except as permitted under this section, no pharmacist or other person shall knowingly disclose information
(a) obtained in the course of carrying on the practice of pharmacy and relating to a person to whom a drug has been dispensed or sold; or
(b) contained in the electronic data storage system maintained for the purposes of The Prescription Drugs Cost Assistance Act and the regulations made under that Act.
Unauthorized access to information
No person shall, knowingly and without authorization, obtain access to information described in subsection (1).
Subsection (1) does not prohibit the disclosure of information as there described
(a) to the person who is the subject of the information;
(b) with the informed, written consent of the person who is the subject of the information, given at the time the disclosure is sought to be made;
(c) where the person who is the subject of the information is under the age of 14 years, with the informed, written consent of the parent or legal guardian of the person, given at the time the disclosure is sought to be made;
(d) where the person who is the subject of the information is 14 years of age or over but is not mentally competent to give the consent required under clause (b), with the informed, written consent of the person entitled to make medical treatment decisions on his or her behalf under The Mental Health Act;
(e) to a health care professional engaged in the direct care of the person who is the subject of the information, where it is not reasonably possible to obtain the consent required under clause (b), (c) or (d) and, in the opinion of the pharmacist, the disclosure would clearly benefit the person ;
(f) to persons charged with the administration and enforcement of this Act, or of any other Act of the Legislature or of another province of Canada or of Canada relating to the subject matter of this Act;
(g) to another pharmacist, or to a person authorized to practise medicine or dentistry or another health care profession and in that capacity to prescribe, dispense or administer drugs or devices, for the purpose of enabling the pharmacist or person to dispense a drug or device safely;
(h) to the association or any other regulatory body governing a profession mentioned in clause (g), for the purpose of investigating the abuse or misuse or the inappropriate or fraudulent prescribing of drugs or devices;
(i) under a court order;
(j) where the information is in statistical form and does not contain the name of, or other means of identifying, the person who is the subject of the information;
(k) to any person specified in the regulations made under The Prescription Drugs Cost Assistance Act, for the purpose and subject to the conditions there set out.
Restriction on further disclosure
A person to whom information is disclosed under this section shall not disclose it or allow it to be disclosed to any other person, unless it is to be used for the purpose for which it was originally disclosed or for any of the other purposes set out in subsection (3).
A breach of a provision of this section by a pharmacist constitutes professional misconduct for the purposes of section 19, in addition to being an offence for which the pharmacist is liable to a penalty under Part 11.
COMING INTO FORCE
This Act comes into force on the day it receives royal assent.