The Georgia Board of Pharmacy (“BOP”) recently enacted rules governing the licensure of pharmacies outside of Georgia that dispense medications into the State of Georgia. As many of you know, the State of Georgia did not previously require non-resident pharmacies to obtain a license in order to ship medications into the State of Georgia. That all changed in July 2013 when the Georgia legislature enacted Ga. Code Ann. §26-4-114.1 requiring non-resident pharmacies to obtain a license to dispense medications into the State of Georgia. Significantly, however, enforcement of this statute was stayed pending the Georgia BOP’s rule-making process to establish standards for licensure and an approved non-resident pharmacy licensure application.
At its September 2014 meeting, the Georgia BOP enacted rules requiring non-resident pharmacies to obtain a license from the BOP before dispensing medications into the State of Georgia. Thereafter, on October 1, 2014, the Georgia BOP posted the approved application for non-resident pharmacy licensure. This license must be renewed every year. Pharmacies interested in obtaining non-resident pharmacy licensure can download the application and submit their applications by mail to the Board’s office.
While the Georgia BOP has informally indicated that it does not intend to begin enforcing this new requirement until January 1, 2015, given the number of applications that the BOP is likely to receive in the weeks ahead, we strongly recommend that you apply for a non-resident pharmacy license in Georgia as soon as possible to avoid interruption in servicing your patients in the State of Georgia. Frier Levitt’s pharmacy law department and regulatory attorneys routinely assist our clients in obtaining licensure throughout the United States. We are familiar with the Georgia non-resident pharmacy licensure requirements and look forward to assisting your pharmacy to obtain its non-resident pharmacy license in Georgia. Contact Frier Levitt for speak to one of our attorneys.
