| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to pharmacy technicians; amending s. |
| 3 | 465.014, F.S.; providing for the registration of pharmacy |
| 4 | technicians; requiring the Board of Pharmacy to set fees |
| 5 | and rules to register pharmacy technicians; providing |
| 6 | qualification requirements; providing a limitation; |
| 7 | exempting pharmacy technician students, unpaid volunteers, |
| 8 | and licensed pharmacy interns from certain registration |
| 9 | requirements; requiring the board to maintain a register |
| 10 | of certain unpaid volunteers; providing continuing |
| 11 | education requirements for registration renewal; requiring |
| 12 | the board to adopt rules relating to display of |
| 13 | registration; providing grounds for denial of |
| 14 | registration; amending ss. 465.019, 465.0196, and |
| 15 | 465.0197, F.S.; conforming references; providing an |
| 16 | effective date. |
| 17 |
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| 18 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 19 |
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| 20 | Section 1. Section 465.014, Florida Statutes, is amended |
| 21 | to read: |
| 22 | 465.014 Pharmacy technician.-- |
| 23 | (1) No person other than a licensed pharmacist or pharmacy |
| 24 | intern may engage in the practice of the profession of pharmacy, |
| 25 | except that a licensed pharmacist may delegate to nonlicensed |
| 26 | pharmacy technicians registered pursuant to this section those |
| 27 | duties, tasks, and functions which do not fall within the |
| 28 | purview of s. 465.003(13). All such delegated acts shall be |
| 29 | performed under the direct supervision of a licensed pharmacist |
| 30 | who shall be responsible for all such acts performed by persons |
| 31 | under his or her supervision. A registered pharmacy technician, |
| 32 | under the supervision of a pharmacist, may initiate or receive |
| 33 | communications with a practitioner or his or her agent, on |
| 34 | behalf of a patient, regarding refill authorization requests. No |
| 35 | licensed pharmacist shall supervise more than one registered |
| 36 | pharmacy technician unless otherwise permitted by the guidelines |
| 37 | adopted by the board. The board shall establish guidelines to be |
| 38 | followed by licensees or permittees in determining the |
| 39 | circumstances under which a licensed pharmacist may supervise |
| 40 | more than one but not more than three registered pharmacy |
| 41 | technicians. |
| 42 | (2) Any person who wishes to work as a pharmacy technician |
| 43 | in this state shall register by filing an application with the |
| 44 | board on a form furnished by the board. The board shall register |
| 45 | each applicant who has remitted a registration fee set by the |
| 46 | board, not to exceed $50 biennially, has completed the |
| 47 | application form and remitted a nonrefundable application fee |
| 48 | set by the board, not to exceed $25, and meets the following |
| 49 | requirements: |
| 50 | (a) Is at least 18 years of age. |
| 51 | (b) Is a high school graduate or equivalent. |
| 52 | (c) Within the 5 years preceding application, has had no |
| 53 | conviction or pleading of guilt, and has never entered a plea of |
| 54 | nolo contendere, regardless of adjudication, for a crime that |
| 55 | relates to drug trafficking or otherwise directly relates to the |
| 56 | functions and duties of a pharmacy technician. |
| 57 | (3) No pharmacist whose license has been denied, |
| 58 | suspended, or restricted for disciplinary purposes shall be |
| 59 | eligible to be registered as a pharmacy technician. |
| 60 | (4) Notwithstanding the requirements of this section or |
| 61 | any other provision of law, a pharmacy technician student may be |
| 62 | placed in a pharmacy for the purpose of obtaining practical |
| 63 | training required by the body accrediting the pharmacy |
| 64 | technician training program. A pharmacy technician student shall |
| 65 | wear identification that indicates his or her student status, |
| 66 | and registration under this section is not required. |
| 67 | (5) Notwithstanding the requirements of this section or |
| 68 | any other provision of law, a person who works as an unpaid |
| 69 | volunteer under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist may |
| 70 | perform the functions of a pharmacy technician without paying a |
| 71 | registration fee or filing an application with the board to |
| 72 | register as a pharmacy technician, provided that the board |
| 73 | maintains a register that lists the name of each volunteer and |
| 74 | documents each volunteer's period of service. |
| 75 | (6) Notwithstanding the requirements of this section or |
| 76 | any other provision of law, a person licensed by the state as a |
| 77 | pharmacy intern may be employed as a registered pharmacy |
| 78 | technician without paying a registration fee or filing an |
| 79 | application with the board to register as a pharmacy technician. |
| 80 | (7) As a condition of registration renewal, a pharmacy |
| 81 | technician shall complete 20 hours biennially of continuing |
| 82 | education courses approved by the board or the American Council |
| 83 | on Pharmaceutical Education of which 4 hours shall be via live |
| 84 | presentation and 2 hours shall be related to the prevention of |
| 85 | medication errors and pharmacy law. |
| 86 | (8) The board shall adopt rules that require each |
| 87 | registration issued by the board under this section to be |
| 88 | displayed in such a manner as to make it available to the public |
| 89 | and to facilitate inspection by the board. |
| 90 | (9) The following acts constitute grounds for denial of |
| 91 | registration of a pharmacy technician: |
| 92 | (a) Being unfit or incompetent to work as a pharmacy |
| 93 | technician by reason of: |
| 94 | 1. Habitual intoxication. |
| 95 | 2. The misuse or abuse of any medicinal drug appearing in |
| 96 | any schedule set forth in chapter 893. |
| 97 | 3. Any abnormal physical or mental condition that |
| 98 | threatens the safety of persons to whom he or she might sell or |
| 99 | assist a pharmacist in dispensing prescriptions, drugs, or |
| 100 | medical supplies or for whom he or she might assist a pharmacist |
| 101 | in preparing or packaging prescriptions, drugs, or medical |
| 102 | supplies. |
| 103 | (b) Violating chapter 499; 21 U.S.C. ss. 301-392, known as |
| 104 | the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; 21 U.S.C. ss. 821 et |
| 105 | seq., known as the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and |
| 106 | Control Act; or chapter 893. |
| 107 | Section 2. Subsection (5) of section 465.019, Florida |
| 108 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 109 | 465.019 Institutional pharmacies; permits.-- |
| 110 | (5) All institutional pharmacies shall be under the |
| 111 | professional supervision of a consultant pharmacist, and the |
| 112 | compounding and dispensing of medicinal drugs shall be done only |
| 113 | by a licensed pharmacist. Every institutional pharmacy that |
| 114 | employs or otherwise utilizes registered pharmacy technicians |
| 115 | shall have a written policy and procedures manual specifying |
| 116 | those duties, tasks, and functions which a pharmacy technician |
| 117 | is allowed to perform. |
| 118 | Section 3. Section 465.0196, Florida Statutes, is amended |
| 119 | to read: |
| 120 | 465.0196 Special pharmacy permits.--Any person desiring a |
| 121 | permit to operate a special pharmacy shall apply to the |
| 122 | department for a special pharmacy permit. If the board certifies |
| 123 | that the application complies with the applicable laws and rules |
| 124 | of the board governing the practice of the profession of |
| 125 | pharmacy, the department shall issue the permit. No permit shall |
| 126 | be issued unless a licensed pharmacist is designated to |
| 127 | undertake the professional supervision of the compounding and |
| 128 | dispensing of all drugs dispensed by the pharmacy. The licensed |
| 129 | pharmacist shall be responsible for maintaining all drug records |
| 130 | and for providing for the security of the area in the facility |
| 131 | in which the compounding, storing, and dispensing of medicinal |
| 132 | drugs occurs. The permittee shall notify the department within |
| 133 | 10 days of any change of the licensed pharmacist responsible for |
| 134 | such duties. Every permittee that employs or otherwise utilizes |
| 135 | pharmacy technicians shall have a written policy and procedures |
| 136 | manual specifying those duties, tasks, and functions which a |
| 137 | registered pharmacy technician is allowed to perform. |
| 138 | Section 4. Subsection (1) of section 465.0197, Florida |
| 139 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 140 | 465.0197 Internet pharmacy permits.-- |
| 141 | (1) Any person desiring a permit to operate an Internet |
| 142 | pharmacy shall apply to the department for an Internet pharmacy |
| 143 | permit. If the board certifies that the application complies |
| 144 | with the applicable laws and rules of the board governing the |
| 145 | practice of the profession of pharmacy, the department shall |
| 146 | issue the permit. No permit shall be issued unless a licensed |
| 147 | pharmacist is designated as the prescription department manager |
| 148 | for dispensing medicinal drugs to persons in this state. The |
| 149 | licensed pharmacist shall be responsible for maintaining all |
| 150 | drug records and for providing for the security of the area in |
| 151 | the facility in which the compounding, storing, and dispensing |
| 152 | of medicinal drugs to persons in this state occurs. The |
| 153 | permittee shall notify the department within 30 days of any |
| 154 | change of the licensed pharmacist responsible for such duties. |
| 155 | Every permittee that employs or otherwise utilizes registered |
| 156 | pharmacy technicians shall have a written policy and procedures |
| 157 | manual specifying those duties, tasks, and functions which a |
| 158 | registered pharmacy technician is allowed to perform. |
| 159 | Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2005. |