Soon, Pennsylvania will become the 50th state to require non-resident pharmacy licensure. On October 7, 2015, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf approved House Bill 75, which requires non-resident pharmacies to register with the Pennsylvania Board of Pharmacy (the “Board”) before delivering prescriptions to Pennsylvania patients. Although the law takes effect on December 6, 2015, the Board may delay enforcement of the requirement until the Board can create and finalize a non-resident pharmacy licensure process.
Pennsylvania licensure will impose additional compliance requirements for non-resident pharmacies. For example, a licensed non-resident pharmacy must:
- Maintain a toll-free telephone number through which the patient can access a pharmacist and operational during the pharmacy’s regular hours of operation, but not less than six days per week for a minimum of 40 hours per week;
- Affix this toll-free telephone number to the prescription label;
- Notify the Board within 30 days of final disposition of any disciplinary action taken by the licensing agency in the non-resident pharmacy’s home state; and
- Notify the Board within 30 days of a change in location or pharmacist-in-charge.
House Bill 75 also creates new requirements for Pennsylvania pharmacies. Pennsylvania pharmacies licensed in other states must now disclose such licensure pursuant to the Pennsylvania license renewal process. The Board will note any non-resident license on the pharmacy’s record, and any such non-resident state shall be notified by the Board of any disciplinary action taken against the pharmacy in Pennsylvania. Finally, resident pharmacies are required to report to the Board any disciplinary action taken against the pharmacy in another state within 30 days of final disposition.
Once the non-resident licensure requirement takes full effect, every pharmacy located outside Pennsylvania that delivers prescriptions to Pennsylvania patients or advertises in Pennsylvania will be required to obtain a non-resident pharmacy license. If you have questions about Pennsylvania’s new non-resident licensure requirement, please contact the authors of this alert or any member of our Specialty Pharmacy team.