(A)(1) The Board of Pharmacy shall register pharmacy technicians who are performing pharmacy functions under the supervision of a pharmacist.

(2) A registration is valid from July one through June thirtieth and is renewable on dates as prescribed by the department with the consent of the board. An application for renewal must be on a board approved form provided by the department and must be submitted and accompanied by an annual fee in an amount established in accordance with Section 40-1-50. A pharmacy technician who has failed to properly renew a registration before July first shall immediately cease practice and refrain from performing any duties as a pharmacy technician. Reinstatement of a registration must be granted upon the board receiving a renewal application and renewal and penalty fees.

(3) A pharmacy technician shall display his or her current registration in a conspicuous place in the primary pharmacy or drug outlet in which the technician is employed, so that the current registration is easily and readily observable by the public. A technician working in a pharmacy or drug outlet where the technician's registration is not posted must have his or her wallet registration card with him or her.

(B)(1) An individual may be certified by the board as a pharmacy technician if the individual has:

(a) worked for fifteen hundred hours under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist as a registered pharmacy technician or has completed a Board of Pharmacy approved pharmacy technician course as provided for in subsection (D); however, beginning July 1, 2004, to be certified as a pharmacy technician an individual must have worked for one thousand hours under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist as a technician and must have completed a Board of Pharmacy approved technician course as provided for in subsection (D);

(b) a high school diploma or equivalent; and

(c) passed the National Pharmacy Technician Certification Board exam or a Board of Pharmacy approved exam and has maintained current certification; and

(d) fulfilled continuing education requirements as provided for in Section 40-43-130(G).

(2) The pharmacist-in-charge shall verify compliance with the requirements of item (a) of subsection (B)(1) and maintained a record of this requirement in a readily retrievable manner for inspection.

(C)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a supervising pharmacist may authorize a certified pharmacy technician to perform any of the following actions including, but not limited to:

(a) receiving and initiating verbal telephone orders;

(b) conducting one-time prescription transfers;

(c) checking a technician's refill of medications if the medication is to be administered by a licensed health care professional in an institutional setting; and

(d) checking a technician's repackaging of medications from bulk to unit dose in an institutional setting.

(2) Nothing in this section prevents the Board of Pharmacy from establishing duties for a certified technician; provided, however, that a certified technician is prohibited from checking another technician's fill, refill, or repackaging of medications for delivery to a patient in an outpatient setting.

(D) A formal academic pharmacy technician training program that leads to a certificate, diploma, or higher degree may be approved by the board if it includes at a minimum:

(1) introduction to pharmacy and health care systems;

(2) pharmacy law and ethics;

(3) pharmacy calculations;

(4) pharmacology;

(a) anatomy and physiology;

(b) therapeutic agents;

(c) prescription drugs;

(d) nonprescription drugs;

(5) pharmacy operations;

(a) drug distribution systems;

(b) records management and inventory control;

(c) ambulatory and institutional practice;

(6) compounding;

(a) aseptic technique;

(b) nonsterile compounding;

(7) general education;

(a) medical terminology;

(b) interpersonal relations;

(c) communications;

(d) computers/keyboarding;

(8) problem solving/critical thinking;

(9) experiential training (practical experience).

(E) A pharmacist whose license has been denied, revoked, suspended, or restricted for disciplinary purposes is not eligible to be registered as a pharmacy technician.

(F) Notwithstanding the requirements of this section or any other provision of law or regulation, an individual who works as an unpaid volunteer under the personal supervision of a licensed pharmacist or who handles legend drugs in a pharmacy department of a free medical clinic staffed by a licensed pharmacist may be registered as a pharmacy technician and may perform pharmacy functions as a pharmacy technician without payment of a registration fee or filing with the board; provided, that a register is maintained in the pharmacy department of the free medical clinic bearing the name of every such volunteer performing pharmacy functions as a pharmacy technician and documenting each volunteer's period of service. This special registration is valid only in the free medical clinic. The register must be kept for a period of three years. For the purposes of this section, "free medical clinic" means a permitted facility that provides medical services, including the dispensing of legend drugs and other medications, free of any charge to members of the public.

(G) Pharmacy technicians are exempt from continuing education requirements for the first renewal period following initial registration.

HISTORY: 1998 Act No. 366, Section 1; 2000 Act No. 297, Section 1; 2002 Act No. 314, Section 4; 2017 Act No. 91 (H.3824), Sections 10.A, 10.B, eff May 19, 2017.

Effect of Amendment

2017 Act No. 91, Section 10.A, amended (C), prohibiting certain actions involving the filling, refilling, or repackaging of medications.

2017 Act No. 91, Section 10.B, added (G), providing that pharmacy technicians are exempt from continuing education requirements for a certain period.