(1) A prescriber who holds a controlled substances license may administer or dispense a controlled substance listed in schedules 2 to 5 without a separate controlled substances license for those activities.

    (2) Except as otherwise provided in rules promulgated under section 16204e and for a patient who is under the care of a hospice, beginning March 31, 2019 or, if rules are promulgated under section 16204e before March 31, 2019, on the date on which rules are promulgated under section 16204e, a licensed prescriber shall not prescribe a controlled substance listed in schedules 2 to 5 unless the prescriber is in a bona fide prescriber-patient relationship with the patient for whom the controlled substance is being prescribed. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, if a licensed prescriber prescribes a controlled substance under this subsection, the prescriber shall provide follow-up care to the patient to monitor the efficacy of the use of the controlled substance as a treatment of the patient’s medical condition. If the licensed prescriber is unable to provide follow-up care, he or she shall refer the patient to the patient’s primary care provider for follow-up care or, if the patient does not have a primary care provider, he or she shall refer the patient to another licensed prescriber who is geographically accessible to the patient for follow-up care.

    (3) Before prescribing or dispensing a controlled substance to a patient, a licensed prescriber shall ask the patient about other controlled substances the patient may be using. The prescriber shall record the patient’s response in the patient’s medical or clinical record.

    (4) Beginning June 1, 2018, before prescribing or dispensing to a patient a controlled substance in a quantity that exceeds a 3-day supply, a licensed prescriber shall obtain and review a report concerning that patient from the electronic system for monitoring schedule 2, 3, 4, and 5 controlled substances established under section 7333a. This subsection does not apply under any of the following circumstances:

    (a) If the dispensing occurs in a hospital or freestanding surgical outpatient facility licensed under article 17 and the controlled substance is administered to the patient in that hospital or facility.

    (b) If the patient is an animal as that term is defined in section 18802, the dispensing occurs in a veterinary hospital or clinic and the controlled substance is administered to the patient in that hospital or clinic.

    (c) If the controlled substance is prescribed by a licensed prescriber who is a veterinarian and the controlled substance will be dispensed by a pharmacist.

    (d) If the patient is under the care of a hospice and the report described in this subsection was obtained and reviewed at the time the patient was admitted to the hospice.

    (5) Beginning June 1, 2018, before prescribing or dispensing a controlled substance to a patient, a licensed prescriber shall register with the electronic system for monitoring schedule 2, 3, 4, and 5 controlled substances established under section 7333a.

    (6) A licensed prescriber who dispenses controlled substances shall maintain all of the following records separately from other prescription records:

    (a) All invoices and other acquisition records for each controlled substance acquired by the prescriber for not less than 5 years after the date the prescriber acquires the controlled substance.

    (b) A log of all controlled substances dispensed by the prescriber for not less than 5 years after the date the controlled substance is dispensed.

    (c) Records of all other dispositions of controlled substances under the licensee’s control for not less than 5 years after the date of the disposition.

    (7) The requirement under section 7303 for a license is waived in the following circumstances:

    (a) When a controlled substance listed in schedules 2 to 5 is administered on the order of a licensed prescriber by an individual who is licensed under article 15 as a practical nurse or a registered professional nurse.

    (b) When methadone or a methadone congener is dispensed on the order of a licensed prescriber in a methadone treatment program licensed under article 6 or when a controlled substance listed in schedules 2 to 5 is dispensed on the order of a licensed prescriber in a hospice rendering emergency care services in a patient’s home as described in section 17746 by a registered professional nurse licensed under article 15.