(1) Every proprietor or manager of a pharmacy shall keep readily available a suitable record of prescriptions which shall preserve for a period of not less than two years the record of every prescription dispensed at such pharmacy which shall be numbered, dated, and filed, and shall produce the same in court or before any grand jury whenever lawfully required to do so. The record shall be maintained either separately from all other records of the pharmacy or in such form that the information required is readily retrievable from ordinary business records of the pharmacy. All recordkeeping requirements for controlled substances must be complied with. Such record of prescriptions shall be for confidential use in the pharmacy, only. The record of prescriptions shall be open for inspection by the commission or any officer of the law, who is authorized to enforce this chapter or chapter 69.41 or 69.50 RCW.

(2) When a pharmacy receives a prescription in digital or electronic format through facsimile equipment transmitting an exact visual image of the prescription, or through electronic communication of prescription information, the digital or electronic record of every such prescription dispensed at the pharmacy constitutes a suitable record of prescriptions, provided that the original or direct copy of the prescription is electronically or digitally numbered or referenced, dated, and filed in a form that permits the information required to be readily retrievable.

(3) A person violating this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.

Intent—Effective date—2003 c 53: See notes following RCW 2.48.180.

Effective date—Severability—1989 1st ex.s. c 9: See RCW 43.70.910 and 43.70.920.