(a) This division shall not be deemed to affect a pharmacist’s ability to substitute a prescription drug pursuant to § 4073 of the Business and Professions Code.

(b) (1) This division shall not prohibit or limit assistance to a patient provided by an independent charity patient assistance program.

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(2) For purposes of this section, “independent charity patient assistance program” means a program that meets all of the following requirements:

(A) The program does not allow a pharmaceutical manufacturer or an affiliate of the manufacturer, including, but not limited to, an employee, agent, officer, shareholder, contractor, wholesaler, distributor, or pharmacy benefits manager, to exert any direct or indirect influence or control over the charity or subsidy program.

(B) Assistance is awarded in a truly independent manner that severs any link between a pharmaceutical manufacturer’s funding and the beneficiary.

(C) Assistance is awarded without regard to the pharmaceutical manufacturer’s interest and without regard to the beneficiary’s choice of product, provider, practitioner, supplier, health insurance, health care service plan, or other health coverage.

(D) Assistance is awarded based upon a reasonable, verifiable, and uniform measure of financial need that is applied in a consistent manner.

(E) The pharmaceutical manufacturer does not solicit or receive data from the program that would facilitate the manufacturer in correlating the amount or frequency of its donations with the number of subsidized prescriptions for its products.

(Added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 611, Sec. 1. (AB 265) Effective January 1, 2018.)