Bill 854

                    Current Status

Bill Number:               854
Ratification Number:       626
Act Number                 548
Introducing Body:          Senate
Subject:                   Change the name of the Board of
                           Pharmaceutical Examiners to the Board of
                           Pharmacy

(A548, R626, S854)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 40-43-50, 40-43-60, 40-43-80, 40-43-90, 40-43-100, 40-43-110, 40-43-120, 40-43-135, 40-43-140, 40-43-150, 40-43-155, 40-43-160, 40-43-210, 40-43-240, 40-43-250, 40-43-280, 40-43-300, 40-43-330, 40-43-380, 40-43-410, AND 40-43-460, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO PHARMACISTS, SO AS TO CHANGE THE NAME OF THE BOARD OF PHARMACEUTICAL EXAMINERS TO THE BOARD OF PHARMACY, PROVIDE FOR FIFTEEN HUNDRED HOURS OF PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE, PROVIDE FOR SUPERVISING PHARMACISTS, AUTHORIZE PHARMACY INTERN CERTIFICATES, PROHIBIT TEMPORARY LICENSES, REVISE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR RECIPROCAL LICENSES, CHANGE THE REFERENCES TO DRUGSTORE TO DRUG OUTLET, PROVIDE FOR QUALIFIED PERSONS TO DISPENSE PRESCRIPTIONS, PROVIDE FOR PHARMACISTS TO BE LICENSED INSTEAD OF REGISTERED, PROVIDE FOR THE CONTINUING EDUCATION OF PHARMACISTS, PROVIDE FOR PRESCRIPTIONS FOR "DANGEROUS DRUGS", PROVIDE FOR THE SELLING OF POISONS, DELETE THE PROVISION PROVIDING FOR THE CHAPTER NOT TO APPLY TO EXTERNAL OR INTERNAL USE PREPARATIONS CONTAINING NOT MORE THAN FIVE PERCENT OR THREE PERCENT OF SULFONAMIDES, PROVIDE FOR NOTIFICATION OF EMPLOYMENT CHANGES WITHIN TEN DAYS OF THE CHANGE, PROVIDE FOR REGISTERING OF DRUG OUTLETS AND PHARMACISTS, PROVIDE FOR APPOINTMENT AND DUTIES OF THE CHIEF DRUG INSPECTOR, AND PROVIDE FOR THE ISSUANCE OF PERMITS; TO AMEND THE 1976 CODE BY ADDING SECTION 40-43-235 SO AS TO REQUIRE A PHARMACIST OR ASSISTANT PHARMACIST TO NOTIFY THE BOARD OF ANY CHANGE OF ADDRESS; AND TO REPEAL SECTION 40-43-170 RELATING TO LABELS FOR POISONS, SECTION 40-43-220 RELATING TO THE KINDS OF DRUGS AND POISONS SOLD BY MERCHANTS, SECTION 40-43-290 RELATING TO THE PAYMENT OF DRUG INSPECTORS, SECTION 40-43-310 RELATING TO THE DISPOSITION OF FEES COLLECTED BY THE BOARD, SECTION 40-43-340 RELATING TO THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION, SECTION 40-43-350 RELATING TO TERMS IN THE CHAPTER, SECTION 40-43-450 RELATING TO PERMITS TO OPEN A NEW PHARMACY, AND SECTION 40-43-470 RELATING TO FEES AND EMPLOYEES' SALARIES.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

Hours of practical experience; certificates; fees

SECTION 1. The second paragraph of Section 40-43-50 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Applicants shall furnish proof of attendance at the school, college, or department of pharmacy from which the applicant is a graduate. All applicants for licensure by examination also shall obtain a total of one thousand, five hundred hours of practical experience in the practice of pharmacy under terms and conditions as the board determines. The board shall establish standards for internship or any other program necessary to qualify an applicant for the licensure examination and also shall determine the necessary qualifications of any supervising pharmacist or preceptor used in any internship or other program. The board may issue pharmacy intern certificates to qualified candidates and set a fee for the certificate by regulation."

Board of Pharmacy

SECTION 2. Section 40-43-60 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 40-43-60. After June 30, 1956, the Board of Pharmacy may not examine or license any person within this State as an assistant pharmacist. Nothing in this section may be construed as preventing any person holding a license as an assistant pharmacist on July 1, 1956, from continuing to practice within this State."

Temporary license

SECTION 3. Section 40-43-80 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 40-43-80. The Board of Pharmacy may not issue a temporary license."

Reciprocity; fees

SECTION 4. Section 40-43-90 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 40-43-90. The Board of Pharmacy may issue a license as a pharmacist to any person who furnishes with his application satisfactory proof that he has been licensed by examination in some other state requiring at the time of the licensure a degree of competency equal to that required of an applicant in this State at that time. The fee for reciprocity must be set by the board by regulation."

Drug outlets; dispense of prescriptions

SECTION 5. The first paragraph of Section 40-43-100 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"It is unlawful for the permit holder of any drug outlet to allow any person not qualified in accordance with the provisions of this chapter to dispense prescriptions of licensed practitioners authorized to prescribe, except under the personal supervision of a licensed pharmacist. Nothing in this chapter may be construed as intending to hinder or prohibit any physician, dentist, podiatrist, or veterinarian lawfully engaged in the practice of his profession anywhere within this State from dispensing his own medicines."

Licensed pharmacists; drugstore deleted

SECTION 6. Section 40-43-110 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 40-43-110. No licensed pharmacist may have personal supervision of more than one pharmacy at the same time."

Licensed pharmacists; drugstore deleted

SECTION 7. Section 40-43-120 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 40-43-120. An assistant pharmacist may take charge of a pharmacy during the temporary absence of the licensed pharmacist but may not own, conduct, or operate a pharmacy unless he employs a licensed pharmacist and places him in active charge of all professional duties connected with the proper and lawful conduct of the business. The board shall promulgate regulations clearly defining temporary absence."

Continuing education

SECTION 8. The first paragraph of Section 40-43-135 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"The responsibility for the enforcement of the provisions of this chapter is vested in the Board of Pharmacy. The board has all of the duties, powers, and authority granted by and necessary to the enforcement of this chapter. The board shall regulate the practice of pharmacy. Its duties include, but are not limited to, determining the ethical and professional competence, on a continuing basis through continuing education, of pharmacists and for disciplining them and the compounding, dispensing, and sale of drugs and the required recordkeeping for the sale of drugs. However, the board's inspection authority over the inpatient pharmacy of a hospital applies only to recordkeeping activities of drugs dispensed by the pharmacy. Further, the responsibility for inspections of the hospital inpatient pharmacy is delegated to the Department of Health and Environmental Control as part of its licensing process. These inspections must be conducted by a licensed pharmacist."

Licensed pharmacists; board; drugstore deleted; permit holder

SECTION 9. Section 40-43-140 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 40-43-140. It is unlawful for anyone, except a licensed pharmacist under this chapter who conforms to the regulations of the Board of Pharmacy:

(a) to take, use, or exhibit the title 'Pharmacist', 'Druggist', 'Pharmacy', 'Drugstore', 'Drugs', 'Prescriptions', or any other title, sign, display, or declaration that would tend to lead the public to believe that the person was engaged in the business of selling, compounding, or dispensing any medicinal drugs, medicinal chemicals, pharmaceutical preparations, or biologicals; or

(b) to have charge of, engage in, or carry on, for himself or another, the dispensing, compounding, or sale of any medicinal drugs, medicinal chemicals, pharmaceutical preparations, or biologicals anywhere within this State.

Except as prescribed by the provisions of this chapter, it is unlawful for any person to practice as a licensed pharmacist or to advertise or represent himself by any title, sign, display, declaration, or otherwise to be such or to engage in, conduct, carry on, or be employed in the dispensing, compounding, or retailing of any medicinal drugs, medicinal chemicals, pharmaceutical preparations, or biologicals within this State.

This section must not be construed as precluding any person from owning or being a permit holder for a pharmacy, if all of the dispensing, compounding, and retailing of medicinal drugs, medicinal chemicals, pharmaceutical preparations, and biologicals in it are under the supervision and direction of a licensed pharmacist.

Any person violating this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be punished as provided by this chapter."

Dangerous drugs; licensed pharmacists; drug outlets

SECTION 10. Section 40-43-150 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 40-43-150. It is unlawful for any person to sell, give away, barter, exchange, distribute, or possess in the State, except on a prescription of a licensed physician, medical or osteopathic, podiatrist, dentist, or veterinarian any drug bearing on its manufacturer's or distributor's original commercial container the legend, 'CAUTION: Federal law prohibits dispensing without a prescription' and those which, in the discretion of the Board of Pharmacy, are classified as 'dangerous drugs' within the meaning of this section.

The prescription must be compounded only by a licensed pharmacist, licensed assistant pharmacist, or under the direct personal supervision of a licensed pharmacist. No prescription may be refilled except upon the authorization of a licensed physician, medical or osteopathic, podiatrist, dentist, or veterinarian who prescribed it.

The provisions of this section do not apply to the sale at wholesale by recognized drug jobbers or wholesalers or drug manufacturers to pharmacists or drug outlets or licensed physicians, medical or osteopathic, podiatrists, dentists, or veterinarians qualified to practice their professions according to the laws of this State, nor to the sale by pharmacists in drug outlets to one another. The provisions of this section apply to the sale by any manufacturer, wholesaler, or retailer to any person other than those legally qualified and authorized to purchase and hold them for resale in this State."

Licensed pharmacists

SECTION 11. Section 40-43-155 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 40-43-155. Licensed pharmacists may sell pharmaceutical agents, other than controlled substances as defined in Section 44-53-110, to optometrists who are certified by the South Carolina Board of Examiners in Optometry to purchase, possess, and administer these agents for the purpose of topically applying the agents to the eye for diagnostic purposes. In this section, 'pharmaceutical agent' means anesthetics, mydriatics, cycloplegics, miotics, dyes, and over-the-counter drugs."

Nonlegend poisons; quantity of poison; Board of Pharmacy

SECTION 12. Section 40-43-160 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 40-43-160. Every pharmacist or other person selling any nonlegend poison must be satisfied that the purchase is made for legitimate purposes and keep a book on file in which must be recorded every sale of the following articles: arsenic and its preparations, all metallic cyanides and cyanides of potassium, tartar emetic, corrosive sublimate, aconite and its preparations, strychnine and all other poisonous alkaloids, and their salts, and hydrocyanic acid. The record must exhibit the name of the person to whom the poison was sold, his place of residence, quantity of poison sold, and the purpose of purchase as stated. The book or file must be kept at all times subject to inspection of the coroner of the county and the solicitor or inspector of the Board of Pharmacy or any other person as either of them may designate.

These above-named poisons, and oxalic acid, chloroform, or any other poisonous articles that may be added to the list by the board, must be securely labeled 'POISON' when sold in the drug outlet.

Nothing in this section may be construed to apply to the filling of prescriptions made by physicians."

Nonapplication

SECTION 13. Section 40-43-210 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 40-43-210. Nothing in this chapter applies to the manufacture or sale, at wholesale or retail, of packaged, bottled, or nonbulk chemicals, drugs, medicines, medical and dental supplies, cosmetics, and dietary foods when identified by and sold under a trademark, trade name, or other trade symbol privately owned or registered in the United States Patent Office, sold, or offered for sale to the general public, if the articles meet the requirements of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

This chapter does not apply to the manufacture or sale, at wholesale or retail, of insecticides, fungicides, rodenticides, weed killers, detergents, or commonly used household chemicals of a nonmedical nature."

Licensed pharmacists; drug outlets; notification

SECTION 14. Section 40-43-240 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 40-43-240. Whenever any licensed pharmacist in the employ of or in charge of the pharmaceutical duties of a drug outlet within this State leaves the employ of or ceases to have charge of the pharmaceutical duties of the drug outlet, he shall notify the secretary of the board in writing within ten days of the change, giving the name and address of the drug outlet in which his services have terminated. Whenever any licensed pharmacist within this State makes any change in his employment from one drug outlet to another, he shall notify the secretary of the board of the change within ten days, listing the name and address of the drug outlet in which he was last employed, and to which he expects to move."

Register of drug outlets and pharmacists

SECTION 15. Section 40-43-250 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 40-43-250. The board shall establish and maintain a register of all drug outlets including, but not limited to, the name, address, both mailing and actual location, telephone number, the individual named as permit holder, the pharmacists-in-charge or consultant pharmacist and all pharmacists and assistant pharmacists employed at the location, and any other pertinent information.

The board shall maintain a register of all pharmacists and assistant pharmacists licensed in this State including, but not limited to, the name of the person licensed, license number, current place of employment, current mailing and home addresses, and any other pertinent information."

Board; chief drug inspector

SECTION 16. Section 40-43-280 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 40-43-280. On July first in every presidential election year the Governor, upon the recommendation of a majority of the Board of Pharmacy, shall appoint and commission a chief drug inspector, who must be a licensed pharmacist and continues in office at the discretion of the board. The chief drug inspector is the executive director of the board and qualifies by taking the usual oath of office."

Inspector's duties

SECTION 17. Section 40-43-300 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 40-43-300. The chief drug inspector or his designee, who must be an employee of the Board of Pharmacy, shall visit annually all of the drug outlets in this State and inspect them to see that the laws relating to the licensing of pharmacists and assistant pharmacists are obeyed and to see that all of the provisions of this chapter are obeyed and carried out by the drug outlets, pharmacists, and assistant pharmacists of this State. If any violation of this chapter is discovered, the inspector either shall require the pharmacist, assistant pharmacist, or permit holder of the drug outlet in default immediately to correct the violation or shall prosecute the offender under the law, using his discretion after consulting with the board if considered necessary. The inspector or his designee may swear out warrants for offenders who violate the provisions of this chapter."

Board; violations

SECTION 18. Section 40-43-330 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 40-43-330. The Board of Pharmacy, through its solicitor or chief drug inspector, or otherwise, as may be most expedient, may prosecute all persons violating the provisions of this chapter."

Drug outlets; inspections; permits

SECTION 19. Section 40-43-380 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 40-43-380. On evidence satisfactory to the board (a) that the drug outlet for which the permit is sought will be conducted in full compliance with the statutory laws pertaining to pharmacy; and (b) if the drug outlet is a pharmacy, that the pharmacy constantly will be under the personal and immediate supervision of a licensed pharmacist, or assistant pharmacist, as prescribed by Section 40-43-120, a permit must be issued to persons the board considers qualified to conduct the drug outlet, after an inspection of the premises of the proposed drug outlet by a board inspector.

If an application is refused, the board shall notify the applicant in writing of its decision and the reasons for its decision.

Permits issued under the provisions of Sections 40-43-360 to 40-43-460 must be displayed in a conspicuous place in the drug outlet for which it was issued. The permits are not transferable, expire on the last day of June following the date of issue, and must be renewed annually."

Board; drug outlets; appeals

SECTION 20. Section 40-43-410 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 40-43-410. Any person to whom the Board of Pharmacy has refused to issue a permit, or whose permit has been revoked, suspended, or canceled, may appeal from the decision and order of the board to the circuit court of the county in which the drug outlet is or is intended to be located, at any time within thirty days after the date of the receipt of the action taken by the board.

The circuit court has the power to reverse, modify in any particular, or to affirm any decision and order and to make both findings of fact and law in reference to the decision and order.

No order of revocation, suspension, or cancellation of a permit is effective until the decision and order become final."

Drug outlets; number of pharmacists

SECTION 21. Section 40-43-460 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 40-43-460. The number of pharmacists in any given area must not be considered nor may competition among drug outlets be considered by the board in determining whether or not to grant a permit or to revoke, suspend, or cancel a permit."

Address changes

SECTION 22. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 40-43-235. Whenever any currently licensed pharmacist or assistant pharmacist changes his mailing address, the board must be notified in writing within ten days, listing his name, license number, and new mailing address."

Repeals

SECTION 23. Sections 40-43-170, 40-43-220, 40-43-290, 40-43-310, 40-43-340, 40-43-350, 40-43-450, and 40-43-470 of the 1976 Code are repealed.

Time effective

SECTION 24. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.