Do pharmacists have to check CURES before dispensing scheduled II-IV drugs?

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CURES is California’s system for monitoring dispensing of controlled substances to help detect doctor shopping and unsafe patterns. Pharmacists aren’t legally required to query CURES before dispensing Schedule II–IV medications in every case. The duty to check typically sits with prescribers when issuing controlled-substance prescriptions, while pharmacists may review a patient’s CURES history as a safety check. Because using CURES can reveal potential misuse or dangerous polypharmacy, it’s strongly encouraged as best practice to check, especially for new patients, multiple prescribers, or high-risk situations. So the option stating it’s not mandatory but highly encouraged best reflects how CURES is used in pharmacy practice. The other options overstate or misstate the requirement ( blanket mandatory use for all prescriptions, never being allowed, or only for out-of-state prescriptions).