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Ohio pharmacies that depend upon pharmacy technicians may soon find themselves short staffed and/or unable to operate.

On January 4, 2017, Governor Kasich signed S.B. 319 into law, most of which will become effective April 6, 2017. The new law will be implemented with rules currently being written by the Ohio Board of Pharmacy that are aimed at establishing a system of registration for registered pharmacy technicians, certified pharmacy technicians and pharmacy technician trainees. The new system under S.B. 319 replaces the old system that designated those who met specific criteria as qualified pharmacy technicians.

S.B. 319 provides specific requirements for registration, including age, education, experience, character, criminal records check, and certification requirements. The professional license defense attorneys at Graff & McGovern expect that due to background checks and other information provided during the course of applying for certification (which may reveal character issues, criminal issues and/or past disciplinary issues), many qualified pharmacy technicians may be unable to obtain certification. If so, those unable to obtain certification will be unable to continue to serve in their current roles within the pharmacies that employ them. Therefore, without proper planning, S.B. 319 may leave many Ohio pharmacies short staffed when their pharmacy technicians are no longer eligible to practice.

S.B. 319 also specifies conduct for which the Board may sanction a certified pharmacy technician or trainee. The grounds for imposing disciplinary sanctions will grow to include most of the grounds that are currently available for the Pharmacy Board to sanction licensed pharmacists, which includes:

1. convictions for felonies or crimes involving moral turpitude;
2. engaging in dishonesty or unprofessional conduct;
3. physical or mental impairment, including addiction to, or abuse of, drugs / alcohol;
4. violating or conspiring to violate drug and pharmacy based laws;
5. engaging in fraud or misrepresentation in applying for registration;
6. failing to comply with a Pharmacy Board adjudication order or consent agreement; and
7. engaging in other conduct the Pharmacy board prohibits through the ongoing rule-making process.

It is important for pharmacy technicians and those who employ / rely upon pharmacy technicians to understand that the disciplinary sanctions imposed by the Pharmacy Board for violating any of the above referenced laws / rules include: revoking, suspending, restricting, limiting to grant or renew a registration; reprimanding or placing the registration holder on probation; and/or imposing a fine.

Most disciplinary actions and the resulting sanctions will only be able to occur following notice and opportunity for hearing under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 119. However, S.B. 319 expands the circumstances under which the Pharmacy Board may suspend a certificate without a hearing for actions related to controlled substances and extends this authority to actions related to other dangerous drugs. The professional license defense attorneys at Graff & McGovern recommend that licensee / certificate holders consult with experienced defense counsel as soon as they become aware of an issue that could lead to a disciplinary action, which may be at or before the time that they receive a notice of opportunity for hearing from the Ohio Pharmacy Board alleging a violation.

S.B. 319 requires pharmacy interns, pharmacy technicians, pharmacy technician trainees, terminal distributors of dangerous drugs, and wholesale distributors of dangerous drugs to cooperate with federal, state, and local government investigations and to divulge all relevant information when requested by a government agency. Therefore, adverse informative regarding pharmacy technicians will quickly become known by the Pharmacy Board.

There may be steps to take now that will better enable an individual to obtain pharmacy technician certification when required and/or that will prevent a pharmacy from being short staffed. If you have questions about S.B. 319, its expected implementation and obtaining certification, please contact attorney Levi Tkach at 614-228-5800, x4, Jim McGovern at 614-228-5800, x2, or any medical license lawyer at Graff & McGovern.