Legal Question about techs in FL

[owlegrad]

So I am still working on getting that internet JD, but I am curious how others feel about this. I work in FL and the BOP requires techs to be registered with the board. My company has recently started to use off site Order Entry help in another state that is not registered with the board. My pharmacy director says it has been vetted by corporate and is fine. Being the independent minded free spirit that I am, I am skeptical. The statue, posted below in it's entirety, does say "Any person who wishes to work as a pharmacy technician in this state..." So I am guessing that because the work is being done off site the company believes they are exempt from getting registered? Does that sound legitimate to y'all?

Anyone have any insight here? Does your company use off site OE techs and if so are the techs registered? Just curious. Thanks in advance.

465.014 Pharmacy technician.—
(1) A person other than a licensed pharmacist or pharmacy intern may not engage in the practice of the profession of pharmacy, except that a licensed pharmacist may delegate to pharmacy technicians who are registered pursuant to this section those duties, tasks, and functions that do not fall within the purview of s. 465.003(13). All such delegated acts must be performed under the direct supervision of a licensed pharmacist who is responsible for all such acts performed by persons under his or her supervision. A registered pharmacy technician, under the supervision of a pharmacist, may initiate or receive communications with a practitioner or his or her agent, on behalf of a patient, regarding refill authorization requests. A licensed pharmacist may not supervise more than one registered pharmacy technician unless otherwise permitted by the guidelines adopted by the board. The board shall establish guidelines to be followed by licensees or permittees in determining the circumstances under which a licensed pharmacist may supervise more than one pharmacy technician.
(2) Any person who wishes to work as a pharmacy technician in this state must register by filing an application with the board on a form adopted by rule of the board. The board shall register each applicant who has remitted a registration fee set by the board, not to exceed $50 biennially; has completed the application form and remitted a nonrefundable application fee set by the board, not to exceed $50; is at least 17 years of age; and has completed a pharmacy technician training program approved by the Board of Pharmacy. Notwithstanding any requirements in this subsection, any registered pharmacy technician registered pursuant to this section before January 1, 2011, who has worked as a pharmacy technician for a minimum of 1,500 hours under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist or received certification as a pharmacy technician by certification program accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies is exempt from the requirement to complete an initial training program for purposes of registration as required by this subsection.
(3) A person whose license to practice pharmacy has been denied, suspended, or restricted for disciplinary purposes is not eligible to register as a pharmacy technician.
(4) Notwithstanding the requirements of this section or any other provision of law, a pharmacy technician student who is enrolled in a pharmacy technician training program that is approved by the board may be placed in a pharmacy for the purpose of obtaining practical training. A pharmacy technician student shall wear identification that indicates his or her student status when performing the functions of a pharmacy technician, and registration under this section is not required.
(5) Notwithstanding the requirements of this section or any other provision of law, a person who is licensed by the state as a pharmacy intern may be employed as a registered pharmacy technician without paying a registration fee or filing an application with the board to register as a pharmacy technician.
(6) As a condition of registration renewal, a registered pharmacy technician shall complete 20 hours biennially of continuing education courses approved by the board or the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, of which 4 hours must be via live presentation and 2 hours must be related to the prevention of medication errors and pharmacy law.
(7) The board shall adopt rules that require each registration issued by the board under this section to be displayed in such a manner as to make it available to the public and to facilitate inspection by the department. The board may adopt other rules as necessary to administer this section.
(8) If the board finds that an applicant for registration as a pharmacy technician or that a registered pharmacy technician has committed an act that constitutes grounds for discipline as set forth in s. 456.072(1) or has committed an act that constitutes grounds for denial of a license or disciplinary action as set forth in this chapter, including an act that constitutes a substantial violation of s. 456.072(1) or a violation of this chapter which occurred before the applicant or registrant was registered as a pharmacy technician, the board may enter an order imposing any of the penalties specified in s. 456.072(2) against the applicant or registrant.
History.—ss. 1, 7, ch. 79-226; ss. 2, 3, ch. 81-318; ss. 10, 26, 27, ch. 86-256; s. 59, ch. 91-137; s. 6, ch. 91-156; s. 4, ch. 91-429; s. 242, ch. 97-103; s. 192, ch. 97-264; s. 120, ch. 99-397; ss. 2, 3, 4, ch. 2008-216; s. 2, ch. 2014-113; s. 13, ch. 2016-145.

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[Charcoales]

Which state does the rph have to be licensed in if they are working off-site in another state? I'd guess it might be the same for techs?

 

[BigBoss]

It should be fine as long as they're registered wherever they're located. Your company must've already vetted this through their legal department to avoid litigation and fines. What's more troubling to me from this situation is the fact that your company is outsourcing tech jobs in this manner, which would affect the entry of new techs, but it makes sense with the high turnover rate in the current market.

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

So I am still working on getting that internet JD, but I am curious how others feel about this. I work in FL and the BOP requires techs to be registered with the board. My company has recently started to use off site Order Entry help in another state that is not registered with the board. My pharmacy director says it has been vetted by corporate and is fine. Being the independent minded free spirit that I am, I am skeptical. The statue, posted below in it's entirety, does say "Any person who wishes to work as a pharmacy technician in this state..." So I am guessing that because the work is being done off site the company believes they are exempt from getting registered? Does that sound legitimate to y'all?

Anyone have any insight here? Does your company use off site OE techs and if so are the techs registered? Just curious. Thanks in advance.

465.014 Pharmacy technician.—
(1) A person other than a licensed pharmacist or pharmacy intern may not engage in the practice of the profession of pharmacy, except that a licensed pharmacist may delegate to pharmacy technicians who are registered pursuant to this section those duties, tasks, and functions that do not fall within the purview of s. 465.003(13). All such delegated acts must be performed under the direct supervision of a licensed pharmacist who is responsible for all such acts performed by persons under his or her supervision. A registered pharmacy technician, under the supervision of a pharmacist, may initiate or receive communications with a practitioner or his or her agent, on behalf of a patient, regarding refill authorization requests. A licensed pharmacist may not supervise more than one registered pharmacy technician unless otherwise permitted by the guidelines adopted by the board. The board shall establish guidelines to be followed by licensees or permittees in determining the circumstances under which a licensed pharmacist may supervise more than one pharmacy technician.
(2) Any person who wishes to work as a pharmacy technician in this state must register by filing an application with the board on a form adopted by rule of the board. The board shall register each applicant who has remitted a registration fee set by the board, not to exceed $50 biennially; has completed the application form and remitted a nonrefundable application fee set by the board, not to exceed $50; is at least 17 years of age; and has completed a pharmacy technician training program approved by the Board of Pharmacy. Notwithstanding any requirements in this subsection, any registered pharmacy technician registered pursuant to this section before January 1, 2011, who has worked as a pharmacy technician for a minimum of 1,500 hours under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist or received certification as a pharmacy technician by certification program accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies is exempt from the requirement to complete an initial training program for purposes of registration as required by this subsection.
(3) A person whose license to practice pharmacy has been denied, suspended, or restricted for disciplinary purposes is not eligible to register as a pharmacy technician.
(4) Notwithstanding the requirements of this section or any other provision of law, a pharmacy technician student who is enrolled in a pharmacy technician training program that is approved by the board may be placed in a pharmacy for the purpose of obtaining practical training. A pharmacy technician student shall wear identification that indicates his or her student status when performing the functions of a pharmacy technician, and registration under this section is not required.
(5) Notwithstanding the requirements of this section or any other provision of law, a person who is licensed by the state as a pharmacy intern may be employed as a registered pharmacy technician without paying a registration fee or filing an application with the board to register as a pharmacy technician.
(6) As a condition of registration renewal, a registered pharmacy technician shall complete 20 hours biennially of continuing education courses approved by the board or the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, of which 4 hours must be via live presentation and 2 hours must be related to the prevention of medication errors and pharmacy law.
(7) The board shall adopt rules that require each registration issued by the board under this section to be displayed in such a manner as to make it available to the public and to facilitate inspection by the department. The board may adopt other rules as necessary to administer this section.
(8) If the board finds that an applicant for registration as a pharmacy technician or that a registered pharmacy technician has committed an act that constitutes grounds for discipline as set forth in s. 456.072(1) or has committed an act that constitutes grounds for denial of a license or disciplinary action as set forth in this chapter, including an act that constitutes a substantial violation of s. 456.072(1) or a violation of this chapter which occurred before the applicant or registrant was registered as a pharmacy technician, the board may enter an order imposing any of the penalties specified in s. 456.072(2) against the applicant or registrant.
History.—ss. 1, 7, ch. 79-226; ss. 2, 3, ch. 81-318; ss. 10, 26, 27, ch. 86-256; s. 59, ch. 91-137; s. 6, ch. 91-156; s. 4, ch. 91-429; s. 242, ch. 97-103; s. 192, ch. 97-264; s. 120, ch. 99-397; ss. 2, 3, 4, ch. 2008-216; s. 2, ch. 2014-113; s. 13, ch. 2016-145.

Just submit an anonymous complaint against your pharmacy for a date when you're not present.

LOL.
Let the board sort it out.

 

[owlegrad]

Just submit an anonymous complaint against your pharmacy for a date when you're not present.

LOL.
Let the board sort it out.

I actually seriously considered this. But I would rather not get my employer in trouble. Besides, perhaps they do know something I don’t.

 

[gwarm01]

I'm obviously not an attorney, but that does sound odd. Mail-order pharmacists typically have to be licensed in any state they are servicing, so it wouldn't seem like a stretch to expect the same of pharmacy techs. Unless the thinking is we want to register techs in our state to keep track of and hopefully prevent diversion within our borders, but we don't really care about what happens elsewhere as long as a Florida licensed pharmacist signs off on it.

 

[Digsbe]

I'm obviously not an attorney, but that does sound odd. Mail-order pharmacists typically have to be licensed in any state they are servicing, so it wouldn't seem like a stretch to expect the same of pharmacy techs. Unless the thinking is we want to register techs in our state to keep track of and hopefully prevent diversion within our borders, but we don't really care about what happens elsewhere as long as a Florida licensed pharmacist signs off on it.

That's not accurate. For nearly all states mail order pharmacists only need to be licensed in the state they physically work in. The site needs a pharmacy license for each state, and some states mandate that the PIC be licensed in that state as well.

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

I thought about it, and the idea of off site techs is scary.

They can be hard enough to wrangle in person.

 

[gwarm01]

That's not accurate. For nearly all states mail order pharmacists only need to be licensed in the state they physically work in. The site needs a pharmacy license for each state, and some states mandate that the PIC be licensed in that state as well.

Huh.. I just saw a nuclear posting in FL that required a license in the states you'd be servicing. I just assumed that was standard.

 

[owlegrad]

Huh.. I just saw a nuclear posting in FL that required a license in the states you'd be servicing. I just assumed that was standard.

I thought that was standard as well. I still think it is, actually.

 

[Modest_anteater]

So I am still working on getting that internet JD, but I am curious how others feel about this. I work in FL and the BOP requires techs to be registered with the board. My company has recently started to use off site Order Entry help in another state that is not registered with the board. My pharmacy director says it has been vetted by corporate and is fine. Being the independent minded free spirit that I am, I am skeptical. The statue, posted below in it's entirety, does say "Any person who wishes to work as a pharmacy technician in this state..." So I am guessing that because the work is being done off site the company believes they are exempt from getting registered? Does that sound legitimate to y'all?

Anyone have any insight here? Does your company use off site OE techs and if so are the techs registered? Just curious. Thanks in advance.

465.014 Pharmacy technician.—
(1) A person other than a licensed pharmacist or pharmacy intern may not engage in the practice of the profession of pharmacy, except that a licensed pharmacist may delegate to pharmacy technicians who are registered pursuant to this section those duties, tasks, and functions that do not fall within the purview of s. 465.003(13). All such delegated acts must be performed under the direct supervision of a licensed pharmacist who is responsible for all such acts performed by persons under his or her supervision. A registered pharmacy technician, under the supervision of a pharmacist, may initiate or receive communications with a practitioner or his or her agent, on behalf of a patient, regarding refill authorization requests. A licensed pharmacist may not supervise more than one registered pharmacy technician unless otherwise permitted by the guidelines adopted by the board. The board shall establish guidelines to be followed by licensees or permittees in determining the circumstances under which a licensed pharmacist may supervise more than one pharmacy technician.
(2) Any person who wishes to work as a pharmacy technician in this state must register by filing an application with the board on a form adopted by rule of the board. The board shall register each applicant who has remitted a registration fee set by the board, not to exceed $50 biennially; has completed the application form and remitted a nonrefundable application fee set by the board, not to exceed $50; is at least 17 years of age; and has completed a pharmacy technician training program approved by the Board of Pharmacy. Notwithstanding any requirements in this subsection, any registered pharmacy technician registered pursuant to this section before January 1, 2011, who has worked as a pharmacy technician for a minimum of 1,500 hours under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist or received certification as a pharmacy technician by certification program accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies is exempt from the requirement to complete an initial training program for purposes of registration as required by this subsection.
(3) A person whose license to practice pharmacy has been denied, suspended, or restricted for disciplinary purposes is not eligible to register as a pharmacy technician.
(4) Notwithstanding the requirements of this section or any other provision of law, a pharmacy technician student who is enrolled in a pharmacy technician training program that is approved by the board may be placed in a pharmacy for the purpose of obtaining practical training. A pharmacy technician student shall wear identification that indicates his or her student status when performing the functions of a pharmacy technician, and registration under this section is not required.
(5) Notwithstanding the requirements of this section or any other provision of law, a person who is licensed by the state as a pharmacy intern may be employed as a registered pharmacy technician without paying a registration fee or filing an application with the board to register as a pharmacy technician.
(6) As a condition of registration renewal, a registered pharmacy technician shall complete 20 hours biennially of continuing education courses approved by the board or the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, of which 4 hours must be via live presentation and 2 hours must be related to the prevention of medication errors and pharmacy law.
(7) The board shall adopt rules that require each registration issued by the board under this section to be displayed in such a manner as to make it available to the public and to facilitate inspection by the department. The board may adopt other rules as necessary to administer this section.
(8) If the board finds that an applicant for registration as a pharmacy technician or that a registered pharmacy technician has committed an act that constitutes grounds for discipline as set forth in s. 456.072(1) or has committed an act that constitutes grounds for denial of a license or disciplinary action as set forth in this chapter, including an act that constitutes a substantial violation of s. 456.072(1) or a violation of this chapter which occurred before the applicant or registrant was registered as a pharmacy technician, the board may enter an order imposing any of the penalties specified in s. 456.072(2) against the applicant or registrant.
History.—ss. 1, 7, ch. 79-226; ss. 2, 3, ch. 81-318; ss. 10, 26, 27, ch. 86-256; s. 59, ch. 91-137; s. 6, ch. 91-156; s. 4, ch. 91-429; s. 242, ch. 97-103; s. 192, ch. 97-264; s. 120, ch. 99-397; ss. 2, 3, 4, ch. 2008-216; s. 2, ch. 2014-113; s. 13, ch. 2016-145.

I would look up your state's whistle blower laws. If what you posted is true your company could be in serious violation of the law.

 

[lord999]

Offsite order processing requires an out of state license within the state you dispense. So, whatever corporation has to have some sort of out of state license in FL (and FL actually does enforce this as a revenue matter). The other problem though is that if the corporate entity has both out of state and in state presence, it's complicated in the sense of the rules of passing orders back and forth due to interstate commerce versus a within state matter (that's the major attorney part). It's kind of like multinational tax evasion in a smaller scale (save money on techs). What is clear though for the moment is that you cannot use someone even electronically out of the country even if they have a US license (preventing Tata and a couple of other Indian firms from coming in), and the corporation has in-state liability for the out of state practice. Someday though, I'm sure some state will allow some foreigners an easier access path in exchange for money (guest worker program) which might be the end of many tech jobs. There's telehealth pilots in place for internal medicine, and radiology is getting some sustained hits from that sort of remote practice with foreigners.

Nuclear is different though. States do not have the power in this case to override Title 10 and Title 21 for almost all matters with respect to actual handling. They can make regulations about the organization of the pharmacy and reporting requirements to the state, but not the dispensing as it's more like every order is a 222 standardized kind of affair for tracking purposes. It's tested in the BCNP and it's one of the few areas where the Feds actually say how not just what is expected. That means Cardinal has to have a license to practice as a pharmacy in every state they dispense in as an out-of-state and their local facilities as in-state, while order management and dispensing conform to federal practice and not state. I've never seen a state go after a nuclear pharmacy practice mainly because anything outside the paperwork for the pharmacy site itself is mostly out of their jurisdiction.

If the offsite processing pharmacy is not registered with the Board, that's an easy report for free. Let corporate deal with that one, because it almost always works out that any offsite processing or filling has to be licensed within the state as a out-of-state matter for any regular business.

 

[lord999]

Huh.. I just saw a nuclear posting in FL that required a license in the states you'd be servicing. I just assumed that was standard.

It's standard in nuclear, not because of pharmacy per se, but it has to do with AEA 1954, TSCA 1976, and the NRC regulations regarding getting something called a RAM (radioactive materials) license that require local notice on the matter. That's somewhat reassuring on a personal level that not just any drug wholesaler can order or possess medical isotopes and I wish normal drug wholesalers are at the same standard. This cross-regulation is tricky to deal with, and I'm actually on the FDA CDER/NRC workgroup to reissue those regulations as there's known conflicts between the way that radioactive materials are handled through the former, and the issues with FD&C and drugs. It's also the one territory that the FDA has always wanted regulatory action on, but the agency is not resourced to do it, and the reputation of the FDA is trash compared to the more stringent NRC. I'd professionally prefer that radiopharmaceuticals be left under NRC oversight because NRC does its job properly and tells even political interference to go *(#! themselves as screwing this up means really bad things. In the FDA, it's a half-joke in the Beltway that the FDA finds out when they have problems after the Washington Post or Wall Street Journal publish yet another damning oversight in areas under their enforcement.

 

[Digsbe]

Huh.. I just saw a nuclear posting in FL that required a license in the states you'd be servicing. I just assumed that was standard.

Maybe for nuclear pharmacy, but I don't believe for general mail order that is required. People I know who work in that sector are usually only licensed in their state and service all 50. Although, many will ask RPh's to get licensed in multiple states to be a backup in case they need an emergency PIC as many states do mandate to have a pharmacy permit that the PIC, or a designated pharmacist personally licensed in that state, oversee things for those state's patients.