California Department of Justice to Hold Public Forums on CURES Regulation as Part of Rulemaking Process

Friday, October 4, 2019
Contact: (916) 210-6000, agpressoffice@doj.ca.gov

SACRAMENTO – The California Department of Justice today announced that it will hold two public forums on new draft regulations pertaining to the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES). CURES is California’s prescription drug monitoring system, a tool that assists healthcare practitioners in their efforts to ensure appropriate prescribing and dispensing of controlled substances, and law enforcement and regulatory agencies in their efforts to control the diversion and resultant abuse of controlled substances.

Under Assembly Bill 1751 enacted in January 1, 2019, the Department of Justice is required to adopt regulations by July 1, 2020, regarding certain processes, purposes, and conditions involving the access and use of information within CURES. 

“At the California Department of Justice, it’s our job to safeguard the rights and interests of nearly forty million Californians,” said Attorney General Becerra. “These draft regulations make commonsense protections for healthcare privacy a top priority, while balancing the need for critical enforcement actions to protect public health and safety by stopping the abuse and diversion of controlled substances. We now invite the public to participate in the rulemaking process by providing comments and feedback.”     

The draft regulations address:

  • The process for approving, denying, and disapproving individuals or entities seeking access to information in CURES;
  • The purposes for which a healthcare practitioner may access information in CURES;
  • The conditions under which a warrant, subpoena, or court order is required for a law enforcement agency to obtain information from CURES as part of a criminal investigation; and
  • The process by which information in CURES may be provided for educational, peer review, statistical, or research purposes. 

As part of the rulemaking process, Attorney General Becerra invites all interested persons to provide comments on the CURES rulemaking at any of the following forums, or by submitting written comments via email to curesregulations@doj.ca.gov or by mail at California Department of Justice, Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigative Services, 4949 Broadway Sacramento, CA 95820 by November 19, 2019.

Please note that any information provided is subject to the Public Records Act. Times and locations subject to change. Please view https://oag.ca.gov/bciis/regs for the most updated information.

Public Forum Details:

Date:  November 21, 2019

Time:  9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Location: East End Complex Auditorium, 1500 Capitol Avenue, Sacramento, CA 95814

Date:  November 22, 2019

Time:  9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Location: Ronald Reagan State Building 300 South Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013

A copy of the draft regulations is available here.

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