You asked if state law allows physician assistants to dispense drug samples.

State law allows physician assistants (PAs) to request, sign for, receive and dispense to patients professional samples of drugs the law authorizes them to prescribe. They can do this when delegated by their supervising physician, or when working in a licensed, nonprofit outpatient clinic or in a state- or town-operated clinic (PA 04-221; CGS § 20-12d(a)).

PA 05-219 expanded the prescriptive authority of PAs by allowing them to prescribe and renew schedules II through V controlled substances in all settings. This act also required that in all cases where a PA prescribes a schedule II or III controlled substance, the supervising physician must document his approval of the order in the patient's medical record within one calendar day. Controlled substances are grouped in schedules I through V according to their decreasing tendency to promote abuse or dependency. Schedule I is the most addictive.

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