§ 34-23-33 — Disciplinary Action -- Grounds; Monetary Penalties

Alabama § 34-23-33

• Jurisdiction: Alabama
• Title 34: Professions and Businesses
• Ch. 23: Pharmacists and Pharmacies
• Art. 2: Licenses and Permits
• Div. 1: General Provisions

Text

(a) The board may revoke or suspend a license, permit, certificate, or registration, place on probation, require remediation, or impose monetary penalties in accordance with subsection (b) against any person who holds a license, permit, certificate, or registration issued by the board whenever the board finds by a preponderance of the evidence, or pursuant to a consent decree, that the person has engaged in any of the following:
(1) Obtaining a license, permit, certificate, or registration from the board by fraudulent means.
(2) Violating any law regulating the sale or dispensing of narcotics, exempt narcotics, or drugs bearing the label “caution, federal law prohibits dispensing without prescription,” or similar wording which causes the drugs to be classified as prescription legend drugs.
(3) Conviction of a felony. A copy of the record of the conviction, certified by the clerk of the court entering the conviction, shall be conclusive evidence of the conviction.
(4) Conviction of any crime or offense that reflects the inability of the practitioner to practice pharmacy with due regard for the health and safety of the patients.
(5) Demonstrated inability to practice pharmacy with reasonable skill and safety to patients by reason of illness, intoxication, misuse of drugs, narcotics, alcohol, chemicals, or any other substance, or as a result of any mental or physical condition. When the issue is whether or not a pharmacist is physically or mentally capable of practicing pharmacy with reasonable skill and safety to patients, then, upon a showing of probable cause to the board that the pharmacist is not capable of practicing pharmacy with reasonable skill and safety to patients, the board may require the pharmacist in question to submit to a psychological examination by a psychologist to determine psychological status or a physical examination by a physician, or both, to determine physical condition. The psychologist or physician, or both, shall be designated by the board. The expense of the examination shall be borne by the board. Where the pharmacist raises the issue of mental or physical competence or appeals a decision regarding his or her mental or physical competence, the pharmacist shall be permitted to obtain his or her own evaluation at the pharmacist’s expense. If the objectivity or adequacy of the examination is suspect, the board may complete the examination by the designated practitioners at its own expense. When mental or physical capacity to practice is at issue, every pharmacist licensed to practice pharmacy in the state shall be deemed to have given consent to submit to a mental or physical examination or to any combination of the examinations and to waive all objections to the admissibility of the examination, or to previously adjudicated evidence of mental incompetence.
(6) Gross malpractice or repeated malpractice or gross negligence in the practice of pharmacy.
(7) Violation of any provisions contained in this chapter or a rule of the board.
(8) Employing, assisting, or enabling in any manner any unlicensed person to practice pharmacy.
(9) The suspension, revocation, or probation by another state of a license to practice pharmacy. A certified copy of the record of suspension, revocation, or probation of the state imposing the suspension, revocation, or probation shall be conclusive evidence of the suspension, revocation, or probation. This subdivision does not authorize the board to take any disciplinary action, including imposition of a monetary penalty, against any person that has not been issued a license, permit, certificate, or registration by the board and has not violated any provision of this chapter or rule of the board.
(10) Refusal to appear before the board after having been ordered to do so in writing by the secretary or chair of the board.
(11) Making any fraudulent or untrue statement to the board.
(12) Violation of the code of professional conduct adopted by the board in the rules and regulations of the board.
(b)(1) The board may impose monetary penalties in the form of civil penalties for disciplinary violations and administrative fines for non-disciplinary violations of this chapter and rules of the board, as determined by the board.
(2) The board, by rule, shall adopt monetary penalty schedules that shall include both civil penalties and administrative fines and shall be dollar amount ranges based on the underlying violation. The board shall adopt separate penalty schedules for specific types or categories of persons subject to this chapter, including, but not limited to, separate penalty schedules for chain pharmacies, independent pharmacies, manufacturers, and distributors. No later than the effective date of the certified rule or rules, the board shall publish the penalty schedules on the board’s website. Beginning January 1, 2026, the board may not impose any monetary penalty unless the monetary penalty is covered and addressed by a monetary penalty schedule that has been certified and published on the board’s website.
(3) When determining the amount of a monetary penalty for a specific violation, the board shall consider the level and scope of misconduct, the level of risk to public health and safety, and the compliance history of the violator.

Legislative History

Acts 1966, Ex. Sess., No. 205, p. 231, §20; Acts 1989, No. 89-235, p. 303, §3; Acts 1990, No. 90-550, p. 856, §1; Acts 1995, No. 95-585, p. 1243, §1; Act 2009-576, p. 1688, §1; Act 2017-422, p. 1392, §1; Act 2025-372, §3.)