On Monday, March 9, 2020, Governor Ron DeSantis declared a State of for the entire state of Florida in response to the recent COVID-19 emergency. Under the State of Emergency, a pharmacist, in his or her professional judgment, may be able to refill prescriptions early. In accordance with Section 465.0275, Florida Statutes, pharmacists may dispense up to a 30-day supply of maintenance medication for a chronic condition 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.
This statutory allowance specifically prohibits the dispensing of a medicinal drug listed in Schedule II appearing in chapter 893, Florida Statutes. 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
The full version of the Governor’s Executive Order Number 20-52 may be found at: https://www.flgov.com/wp-content/uploads/orders/2020/EO_20-52.pdf
