New York Veterinary Controlled-Substance Log Requirements

Controlled-substance records

Veterinary medical records: New York State Education Department guidance says veterinary medical records must be adequate and retained for three years from the date of treatment, in original or legally reproduced form. The same guidance says original medical records or copies may be released only to, or as authorized by, the client or to individuals permitted by federal and state law. ¹

Controlled-substance records: every veterinarian or other authorized practitioner must keep records of all controlled substances purchased and all controlled substances dispensed or administered from the practitioner's own stock. Purchase records include delivery date, drug type and quantity, and supplier name/address; disposition records include dispensing/administering date, patient name/address, and drug type and quantity. New York requires a biennial inventory for controlled substances listed in Section 3306; a federally compliant biennial inventory is deemed compliant with the New York inventory rule, and a copy must be retained with other controlled-substance records and available for inspection for at least five years. ^{2 3 4}

Five-year retention for ALL controlled-substance transaction records — New York extends the federal two-year period. 10 NYCRR 80.100(a) requires records of all transactions concerning controlled substances required to be kept by practitioners (among other licensees) to be kept for a period of five years from the date of transaction. The federal baseline in the DEA master document is two years — 21 CFR 1304.04(a) requires inventories and records kept under Part 1304 to be available for inspection "for at least 2 years" — so in New York every controlled-substance record described in this kit (purchase records, dispensing/administration records, inventories, and disposal records) must be kept for five years, not two. Records, orders, and prescriptions required by Part 80 or Article 33 must also be readily available and promptly produced for inspection and copying on request by authorized representatives of the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, and must be maintained at the premises where the licensed activity is conducted; records maintained electronically must be made available to the Department on request in a readily understandable hardcopy format at those premises. ^{5 6}

Inventory and state-specific controls

Controlled-substance authority depends on how the New York practice is set up. New York's controlled-substances law defines "practitioner" to include a veterinarian licensed or otherwise permitted to dispense, administer, or conduct research with controlled substances in the course of licensed professional practice. For an individual veterinarian acting as a practitioner, Part 80 permits dispensing "in good faith and in the course of their professional practice only". ^{7 8}

Institutional dispenser warning: New York separately treats a "veterinary hospital" as an institutional dispenser when it is approved and certified by the Department to obtain, dispense, and administer controlled substances pursuant to practitioner orders. Part 80 says veterinary hospitals qualified for controlled-substance privileges must first obtain a Class 3 controlled-substances license from the New York State Department of Health, then obtain DEA registration. This module does not decide whether a particular independent practice is a practitioner office or a veterinary hospital/institutional dispenser. ^{7 9}

Storage and access: controlled substances must be safeguarded at the DEA-filed address and available for Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement inspection; access to controlled-substance stock must be limited to the minimum number of employees actually required to handle custody, dispensing, administration, or other handling. If the practice is a licensed institutional dispenser, Part 80 adds schedule-specific storage rules: Schedule I-II in a BNE-approved GSA class 5 cabinet/equivalent safe or vault; Schedule III-V in a securely locked cabinet for reserve/main stock; and double-cabinet rules for certain working stocks. ^{10 11}

Theft, loss, or possible diversion — separate New York notification to BNE: New York requires persons licensed or certified under Public Health Law Article 33 and persons authorized to possess controlled substances in connection with their authorized activities to promptly notify the Department of each incident or alleged incident of theft, loss, or possible diversion of controlled substances manufactured, ordered, distributed, or possessed by such person; a form furnished by the Department for this purpose must be filed with the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, New York State Department of Health. The Department's form is the Loss of Controlled Substances Report (DOH-2094), published on BNE's Narcotic Enforcement Forms page (https://www.health.ny.gov/professionals/narcotic/forms.htm). This is a New York duty in addition to the federal theft/loss reporting pathway in the DEA master document: the federal DEA Form 106 report is filed with DEA, not BNE, and filing it alone does not supply the Department-furnished form that 10 NYCRR 80.110 requires to be filed with BNE. Section 80.110 also requires prompt notification to the Department of any charge or proceeding brought in any court or before any governmental agency, state or federal, alleging failure to comply with the federal Controlled Substances Act or the controlled-substance laws of any state. ^{12 13}

PDMP context

New York's prescription monitoring program is the PMP Registry. The registry covers information reported by pharmacies and by practitioners who dispense controlled substances. New York requires a practitioner who dispenses controlled substances to submit dispensing information electronically to the Department no later than 24 hours after delivery; for animal patients, the patient-name field is filled with the animal owner's name, and the report includes species code and animal name if applicable. When applicable, the practitioner must also file a zero report or obtain a zero-report waiver. ^{14 8}

PMP query before prescribing/dispensing: New York's duty to consult the PMP Registry before prescribing or dispensing Schedule II-IV controlled substances does not apply to veterinarians. This is only a query exemption. It does not remove the dispensing-report duty described above. ¹⁴