Alabama Bill Rewriting Pharmacy Practice Act Clears Senate Hurdle

As detailed in our February 24, 2025 update, House Bill 123 continues the operations of the Alabama Board of Pharmacy (“the Board”) until October 1, 2026, with changes to the Board’s structure, operations, and practices.

On April 1, 2025, the Bill was passed unanimously out of the Senate with one floor amendment. The amendment modifies the Board’s authority to adopt monetary penalty schedules for disciplinary civil penalties and non-disciplinary administrative fines and changes the nomination requirements for the Board’s at-large pharmacist member.

Specifically, the Senate amendment does the following:

• Monetary Penalty Schedules
  • Requires rather than allows the Board to adopt dollar amount ranges based on the underlying violation for both disciplinary civil penalties and non-disciplinary administrative fines.
  • Requires the Board to adopt separate penalty schedules for categories of individuals and entities, including chain pharmacies, independent pharmacies, manufacturers, and distributors.
  • Removes the requirement that the Board consider the size of the business and annual revenues of an entity when determining the monetary penalty amount for a specific violation. Instead, the Board must consider the level and scope of misconduct, the level of risk to public health and safety, and the compliance history of the violator. These requirements apply to both disciplinary civil penalties and non-disciplinary administrative fines.
  • Effective January 1, 2026, prohibits the Board from imposing a disciplinary civil penalty or non-disciplinary administrative fine unless the monetary penalty is addressed by the schedule as certified and published on the Board’s website.
• Board Structure
  • Requires the list of names for the at-large pharmacist member to come from the two state pharmacy schools instead of the state pharmacy association.

The Bill will now be sent back to the House for consideration of the Senate amendment and is expected to be signed by the Governor shortly afterwards. Once signed, the Bill will become effective immediately.

For a full summary of the Bill’s provisions, please visit our February 24, 2025 update.

If you have any questions regarding this bill, please contact your Quarles attorney or:

• Nick Meza: (602) 229-5439 / nicholas.meza@quarles.com
• Brenda Shafer: (602) 229-5774 / brenda.shafer@quarles.com
• Mary Saxon: (602) 229-5334 / mary.saxon@quarles.com