On Wednesday, August 28, 2019, Governor Ron DeSantis declared a State of Emergency to prepare for Hurricane Dorian. Under a State of Emergency, a pharmacist, in his or her professional judgment, may be able to refill prescriptions early. In accordance with Section 465.0275, F.S., pharmacists may dispense up to a 30-day supply of maintenance medication for a chronic condition. Section 465.0275(2), F.S., states that pursuant to an emergency order, a pharmacist may dispense up to a 30-day supply in the areas or counties affected by the order provided that:
• The medication is essential to the maintenance of life or to the continuation of therapy in a chronic condition;
• In the pharmacist’s professional judgment, the interruption of therapy might reasonably produce undesirable health consequences or may cause physical or mental discomfort;
• The dispensing pharmacist creates a written order containing all of the prescription information required by this chapter and chapters 499 and 893 and signs that order; and
• The dispensing pharmacist notifies the prescriber of the emergency dispensing within a reasonable time after such dispensing.
However, this statutory allowance specifically prohibits dispensation of a medicinal drug listed in Schedule II appearing in chapter 893 and is not permitted under Section 465.0275, F.S. You may read the full statute at:
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0400-0499/0465/Sections/0465.0275.html
In the event a pharmacist receives a request for a prescription refill and the pharmacist is unable to readily obtain refill authorization from the prescriber, the pharmacist may dispense a one-time emergency refill of up to a 72-hour supply of the prescribed medication; or a one-time emergency refill of one vial of insulin to treat diabetes mellitus, irrespective of the issuance of an Executive Order.
The full version of the Governor’s Executive Order Numbers 19-189 and 19-190 may be found at: https://www.flgov.com/executive-orders-desantis/
