Louisiana Board of Pharmacy v. Smith

76 So. 2d 722, 226 La. 537, 1954 La. LEXIS 1354
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedNovember 8, 1954
DocketNo. 41417
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 76 So. 2d 722 (Louisiana Board of Pharmacy v. Smith) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Louisiana Board of Pharmacy v. Smith, 76 So. 2d 722, 226 La. 537, 1954 La. LEXIS 1354 (La. 1954).

Opinion

LE BLANC, Justice.

Writs were granted in this case because an important question of public interest was involved and also because of the fact that relator complained so earnestly that he had been unjustly discriminated against by the officials of a public board, the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy, and by the action of the District Court and the Court of Appeal, 65 So.2d 654, in upholding the Board’s action.

From the facts adduced for the record it appears that the relator, Lloyd T. Smith, has been engaged in the practice of pharmacy and in the business of operating a drug store in the city of Opelousas since the year 1942. During that year he applied to the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy for a permit to conduct his business and a license to practice the profession of a pharmacist. His request was not granted but he continued to operate his drug store and to fill and compound prescriptions without any action ever being taken against him until the year 1949. It does appear however that on visits made to his place of business by inspectors for the Board, it was observed that he did not have a Louisiana license and permit as required by the Pharmacy Law of the State and neither did he have a Federal license or permit, to keep and dispense narcotics and narcotic preparations.

Apparently the matter of his lack of required qualifications came to a focus in November 1948 when relator personally appeared before the Board at a meeting held at the home of the Secretary-Treasurer in Ferriday, Louisiana. Relator had been throughout the time from 1942 basing his claim for a Louisiana license on the fact that he was a graduate of a School of Pharmacy in the 'Commonwealth of Massachusetts and also held a certificate from the Board of that Commonwealth. He claimed [541]*541that the Louisiana Board should grant him his license and permit on the basis of the reciprocity that existed between this state and that Commonwealth.

At the meeting in Ferriday relator was asked to state his case before the Board which he did. It was then reviewed, the evidence was discussed and weighed and the Board having found that the Massachusetts school from which relator had graduated was not an accredited school, advised him to either employ a registered pharmacist of the State of Louisiana or go to school and qualify so that he could take the examination in this State. Afterwards relator submitted to the Board his application for a retail pharmacy permit with the required fee. He did not record a Louisiana pharmacist on the application however and the application and fee were returned to him. On March 9, 1949 the Board, through its Secretary, addressed a communication to relator in which he was advised that an inspection of his store on January 29, 1949, showed that he did not have a Louisiana registered pharmacist on duty and that this was in violation of the Pharmacy Law, Act 469 of 1948, LSA-R.S. 37:1171 et seq. It was also recalled that at the meeting he attended in Ferriday he was advised that he would be compelled to have a Louisiana registered pharmacist on duty at all times, as required under the law arid he was specifically asked to name the Louisiana pharmacist he actually had on duty. To this communication the relator replied by letter dated March 21, 1949 stating that he had no intention of employing a Louisiana pharmacist or any other registered pharmacist in the near future as he was himself a registered pharmacist. Then he adds that any further correspondence would be a waste of time on the part of both himself and the Board and suggests that the Board take the matter up to the proper authorities “and eventually to the Courts.”

The Board then submitted the matter to the Attorney General of the State asking for definite advice as to its right to proceed with the enforcement of the law against the relator and upon being informed that under the facts presented he could be enjoined under Act 469 of 1948 from (1) operating a drug store without a permit and (2) practicing pharmacy without a Louisiana License, it later on, on February 6, 1950, instituted this injunction proceeding.

After setting out in its petition, in lesser detail, the facts herein outlined and that relator was ácting, in violation of the law and, more particularly, the provisions1 of Subsection 9 of Section L and those' of Subsection 7, Section 1 of Act 469 of 1948, and further alleging that it (the Board) and the people of the State of .Louisiana are suffering irreparable injury as a result of his acts, the Board asked the Court to issue a rule nisi calling upon the relator to show cause why a preliminary injunction should not issue against him. The Court issued the rule to show cause whereupon relator filed his answer in which he maintained his [543]*543right to practice pharmacy in Louisiana on the strength of the certificate he held from the School of Pharmacy and the Pharmacy Board in Massachusetts, under the reciprocity features of the laws of both states. He avers that the Louisiana Board was at all times vested with discretion to register him but that at no time did it conduct a hearing or an investigation as to his qualifications; that its action toward him has been capricious, captious and arbitrary and for that reason it is not entitled to the extraordinary relief it is seeking.

He also avers that the Board was advised by the Attorney General on May 26, 1942 that the standards of Massachusetts were sufficiently high for the Board of this State to grant reciprocation to one who had successfully passed the examination of that State and hence he was entitled to recognition of his Massachusetts certificate which he timely and regularly received, under the Constitutional provision that “full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State.” Art. 4, § 1.

In the alternative relator pleaded that Act 469 of 1948 was unconstitutional in the following respects: (1) That it violates Section 16, Article 3 of the Constitution (presumably the State Constitution) as the Act is broader than its title; (2) That it violates Art. 1, Sec. 2, State Constitution as it deprives him of his liberty and property without due process of law; and (3) That it is violative of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States because it denies him and all persons equal protection of the law.

After trial in the District Court there was judgment in favor of the plaintiff Board and the injunction issued. An appeal was taken to this Court and the case was transferred to the Court of Appeal, First Circuit, which affirmed the judgment of the District Court. The matter is now before us for review on the writs that were granted.

The trial judge in his reasons for judgment stated that the sole issue in the case was whether or not the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy abused its discretion in refusing to register the relator in Louisiana under the reciprocity provisions in our law, he being registered in Massachusetts, a reciprocating state. He concluded that the Board had not abused its discretion and pointed out excellent reasons, in analyzing the various provisions of the law, Act 469 of 1948, and in applying those provisions to the facts of the case, why there was no abuse of discretion. The Court of Appeal in an equally well-considered opinion went a bit further and disposed of the issues of constitutionality of Act 469 of 1948 which had been raised in the relator’s answer, in the alternative.

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Bluebook (online)
76 So. 2d 722, 226 La. 537, 1954 La. LEXIS 1354, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/louisiana-board-of-pharmacy-v-smith-la-1954.