republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2026/sb-418.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Therapeutic interchange; authorizes pharmacists to perform, adaptation of prescriptions."
description: "Therapeutic interchange and adaptation. Authorizes pharmacists to perform therapeutic interchanges by substituting a drug with another drug in the same therapeutic class when such substitution lowers the cost or is cost-neutral to the patient or the prescribed drug is in a drug shortage and the substitution conforms to Board of Pharmacy regulations. The bill directs the Board of Pharmacy to determine which therapeutic classes of drugs shall be eligible for therapeutic interchange and which classes shall be prohibited. The bill also authorizes pharmacists to adapt prescriptions by changing the dosage form or quantity of a medication or by completing missing information on a prescription when there is evidence to support such change."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "SB 418"
citation: "Virginia SB 418 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Barbara A. Favola"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 34
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2026-01-13"
last_action: "2026-04-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/06704873-a6d2-47d2-ae24-9ca35b4672e6"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB418"
source_hash: "69ac7446a36cb66be1d6753be9f4b3a4aa492bb0fa3036a865c0a3e0a7d27cfe"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia SB 418 (2026) — Therapeutic interchange; authorizes pharmacists to perform, adaptation of prescriptions.

Therapeutic interchange and adaptation. Authorizes pharmacists to perform therapeutic interchanges by substituting a drug with another drug in the same therapeutic class when such substitution lowers the cost or is cost-neutral to the patient or the prescribed drug is in a drug shortage and the substitution conforms to Board of Pharmacy regulations. The bill directs the Board of Pharmacy to determine which therapeutic classes of drugs shall be eligible for therapeutic interchange and which classes shall be prohibited. The bill also authorizes pharmacists to adapt prescriptions by changing the dosage form or quantity of a medication or by completing missing information on a prescription when there is evidence to support such change.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1089995.PDF)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1135370.PDF)
3. **Senator Favola Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1135305.HTML)
4. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1188566.PDF)

## Votes

- Passage R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed R — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- H VOTE: — **87–8** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting — **10–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Health and Human Services — **19–3** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Education and Health — **14–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Barbara A. Favola — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2026-01-13** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104862D `filing, introduction`
- **2026-01-13** Referred to Committee on Education and Health `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-29** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB418)
- **2026-01-30** Assigned Education sub: Health Professions `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-05** Reported from Education and Health (14-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-06** Rules suspended
- **2026-02-06** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (39-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-02-06** Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
- **2026-02-06** Passed by for the day
- **2026-02-06** Passed by for the day
- **2026-02-09** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-09** Floor offered Senator Favola Amendment
- **2026-02-09** Reading of amendment waived (Voice Vote)
- **2026-02-09** Senator Favola Amendment agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2026-02-09** Engrossed by Senate as amended (Voice Vote)
- **2026-02-10** Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-11** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB418)
- **2026-02-13** Placed on Calendar
- **2026-02-13** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-13** Referred to Committee on Health and Human Services `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-16** Assigned sub: Health Professions `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-19** Subcommittee recommends reporting (10-Y 0-N)
- **2026-02-24** Reported from Health and Human Services (19-Y 3-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-26** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-27** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-02-27** Passed House (87-Y 8-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-03-04** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-03-04** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB418ER) `passage`
- **2026-03-04** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB418)
- **2026-03-04** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-03-04** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-03-10** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-10** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-13** Approved by Governor-Chapter 888 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/06704873-a6d2-47d2-ae24-9ca35b4672e6`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).