Florida Senate - 2012                                     SB 654
       
       
       
       By Senator Hays
       
       
       
       
       20-00555-12                                            2012654__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to euthanasia of domestic animals;
    3         amending s. 828.055, F.S.; requiring that the Board of
    4         Pharmacy adopt rules relating to the issuance of
    5         permits authorizing the purchase, possession, and use
    6         of certain controlled substances and legend drugs
    7         necessary for the euthanasia and chemical
    8         immobilization of animals; authorizing the Board of
    9         Pharmacy, at the request of the Board of Veterinary
   10         Medicine, to adopt a rule to increase the number of
   11         controlled substances and legend drugs available to
   12         euthanize injured, sick, or abandoned domestic animals
   13         or to chemically immobilize such animals; providing
   14         that only certain persons are authorized to possess
   15         and use such drugs while operating in the scope of
   16         their employment or official duties; amending s.
   17         828.058, F.S.; restricting the use of intracardial
   18         injection to an unconscious animal; prohibiting the
   19         delivery of a lethal solution or powder by adding it
   20         to food; amending s. 381.0031, F.S.; requiring that an
   21         animal control officer, a wildlife officer, and an
   22         animal disease diagnostic laboratory report knowledge
   23         of any animal bite, any diagnosis or suspicion of a
   24         grouping or clustering of animals having similar
   25         disease, or any symptom or syndrome that may indicate
   26         the presence of a threat to humans; providing an
   27         effective date.
   28  
   29  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   30  
   31         Section 1. Section 828.055, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   32  read:
   33         828.055 Controlled substances and legend drugs Sodium
   34  pentobarbital; permits for use in euthanasia of domestic
   35  animals.—
   36         (1) The Board of Pharmacy shall adopt rules providing for
   37  the issuance of permits authorizing the purchase, possession,
   38  and use of controlled substances and legend drugs, including of
   39  sodium pentobarbital and sodium pentobarbital with lidocaine
   40  tiletamine hydrochloride, alone or combined with zolazepam
   41  (including Telazol), xylazine (including Rompun), ketamine,
   42  acepromazine maleate (also acetylpromazine, and including
   43  Atravet or Acezine 2), alone or combined with etorphine
   44  (including Imobilon), yohimbine hydrochloride, alone or combined
   45  with atipamezole (including Antisedan), by county or municipal
   46  animal control agencies or humane societies registered with the
   47  Secretary of State for the purpose of euthanizing injured, sick,
   48  or abandoned domestic animals that which are in their lawful
   49  possession or for the purpose of chemically immobilizing the
   50  animals. The rules shall set forth guidelines for the proper
   51  storage and handling of these drugs sodium pentobarbital and
   52  sodium pentobarbital with lidocaine and such other provisions as
   53  may be necessary to ensure that the drugs are used solely for
   54  the purpose set forth in this section. The rules shall also
   55  provide for an application fee not to exceed $50 and a biennial
   56  renewal fee not to exceed $50. At the request and recommendation
   57  of the Board of Veterinary Medicine, the Board of Pharmacy may
   58  adopt a rule to increase the number of controlled substances and
   59  legend drugs available to euthanize injured, sick, or abandoned
   60  domestic animals or to chemically immobilize such animals upon a
   61  finding that such additions are necessary for the humane and
   62  lawful treatment of those animals.
   63         (2) Any county or municipal animal control agency or any
   64  humane society registered with the Secretary of State may apply
   65  to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation for a
   66  permit to purchase, possess, and use these drugs sodium
   67  pentobarbital or sodium pentobarbital with lidocaine pursuant to
   68  subsection (1). Upon certification by the board that the
   69  applicant meets the qualifications set forth in the rules, the
   70  department shall issue the permit. The possession and use of
   71  these drugs is limited to those employees or agents of the
   72  permittee certified in accordance with s. 828.058 and or s.
   73  828.27 while operating in the scope of their employment or
   74  official duties with the permittee.
   75         (3) The board may revoke or suspend the permit upon a
   76  determination that the permittee is using any of these drugs
   77  sodium pentobarbital or sodium pentobarbital with lidocaine for
   78  any purpose other than that set forth in this section or if the
   79  permittee fails to follow the rules of the board regarding
   80  proper storage and handling.
   81         Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 828.058, Florida
   82  Statutes, is amended to read:
   83         828.058 Euthanasia of dogs and cats.—
   84         (1) Sodium pentobarbital, a sodium pentobarbital
   85  derivative, or other agent that the Board of Veterinary Medicine
   86  may approve by rule shall be the only methods used for
   87  euthanasia of dogs and cats by public or private agencies,
   88  animal shelters, or other facilities that operate which are
   89  operated for the collection and care of stray, neglected,
   90  abandoned, or unwanted animals. A lethal solution shall be used
   91  in the following order of preference:
   92         (a) Intravenous injection by hypodermic needle;
   93         (b) Intraperitoneal injection by hypodermic needle; or
   94         (c) If the dog or cat is unconscious with no corneal
   95  reflex, intracardial injection by hypodermic needle.; or
   96         (d) Solution or powder added to food.
   97         Section 3. Section 381.0031, Florida Statutes, is amended
   98  to read:
   99         381.0031 Public health surveillance and investigation
  100  Report of diseases of public health significance to department.—
  101         (1) Any practitioner licensed in this state to practice
  102  medicine, osteopathic medicine, chiropractic medicine,
  103  naturopathy, or veterinary medicine; any hospital licensed under
  104  part I of chapter 395; or any laboratory licensed under chapter
  105  483 which that diagnoses or suspects the existence of a disease
  106  of public health significance shall immediately report the fact
  107  to the Department of Health.
  108         (2) Periodically the department shall issue a list of
  109  infectious or noninfectious diseases that the department
  110  determines determined by it to be a threat to public health and
  111  therefore of significance to public health and shall furnish a
  112  copy of the list to the practitioners listed in subsection (1).
  113         (3) Reports required by this section must be in accordance
  114  with methods specified by rule of the department.
  115         (4) Information submitted in reports required by this
  116  section is confidential, exempt from the provisions of s.
  117  119.07(1), and is to be made public only when necessary to
  118  public health. A report so submitted is not a violation of the
  119  confidential relationship between practitioner and patient.
  120         (5) The department may obtain and inspect copies of medical
  121  records, records of laboratory tests, and other medical-related
  122  information for reported cases of diseases of public health
  123  significance described in subsection (2). The department shall
  124  examine the records of a person who has a disease of public
  125  health significance only for purposes of preventing and
  126  eliminating outbreaks of disease and making epidemiological
  127  investigations of reported cases of diseases of public health
  128  significance, notwithstanding any other law to the contrary.
  129  Health care practitioners, licensed health care facilities, and
  130  laboratories shall allow the department to inspect and obtain
  131  copies of such medical records and medical-related information,
  132  notwithstanding any other law to the contrary. Release of
  133  medical records and medical-related information to the
  134  department by a health care practitioner, licensed health care
  135  facility, or laboratory, or by an authorized employee or agent
  136  thereof, does not constitute a violation of the confidentiality
  137  of patient records. A health care practitioner, health care
  138  facility, or laboratory, or any employee or agent thereof, may
  139  not be held liable in any manner for damages and is not subject
  140  to criminal penalties for providing patient records to the
  141  department as authorized by this section.
  142         (6) An animal control officer operating under s. 828.27, a
  143  wildlife officer operating under s. 379.3311, and an animal
  144  disease diagnostic laboratory operating under s. 585.61 shall
  145  report knowledge of any animal bite, any diagnosis or suspicion
  146  of a grouping or clustering of animals having similar disease,
  147  or any symptom or syndrome that may indicate the presence of a
  148  threat to humans.
  149         (7)(6) The department may adopt rules related to reporting
  150  diseases of significance to public health, which must specify
  151  the information to be included in the report, who is required to
  152  report, the method and time period for reporting, requirements
  153  for enforcement, and required followup activities by the
  154  department which are necessary to protect public health.
  155  
  156  This section does not affect s. 384.25.
  157         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2012.