(1) (a) The board may take disciplinary or other action as authorized in section 12-20-404 when the board determines that the applicant, licensee, certificant, or registrant has engaged in activities that are grounds for discipline under section 12280-126.
The board may suspend or revoke a registration issued pursuant to section 12-280119 (12) upon determination that the person administering a drug or combination of drugs to an animal has not demonstrated adequate knowledge required by sections 12-280-119 (12) and 12280-120 (17).
(2) (a) Proceedings for the denial, suspension, or revocation of a license, certification, or registration and any judicial review of a suspension or revocation must be conducted in accordance with article 4 of title 24 and sections 12-20-403 and 12-20-408.
(b) Upon finding that grounds for discipline pursuant to section 12-280-126 exist, in addition to the disciplinary actions specified in section 12-20-404 (1), the board may impose one or more of the following penalties on a person who holds or is seeking a new or renewal license, certification, or registration:
Restriction of the offender's license, certification, or registration to prohibit the offender from performing certain acts or from practicing pharmacy or as a pharmacy technician in a particular manner for a period to be determined by the board;
Placement of the offender on probation and supervision by the board for a period tobe determined by the board; or
Suspension of the registration of the outlet that is owned by or employs the offenderfor a period to be determined by the board.
The board may limit revocation or suspension of a registration to the particular controlled substance that was the basis for revocation or suspension.
If the board suspends or revokes a registration, the board may place all controlledsubstances owned or possessed by the registrant at the time of the suspension or on the effective date of the revocation order under seal. The board may not dispose of substances under seal until the time for making an appeal has elapsed or until all appeals have been concluded, unless a court orders otherwise or orders the sale of any perishable controlled substances and the deposit of the proceeds with the court. When a revocation becomes final, all controlled substances may be forfeited to the state.
The board shall promptly notify the bureau and the appropriate professional licensingagency, if any, of all charges and the final disposition of the charges and of all forfeitures of a controlled substance.
(3) The board may also include in any disciplinary order that allows the licensee, certificant, or registrant to continue to practice conditions that the board deems appropriate to assure that the licensee, certificant, or registrant is physically, mentally, morally, and otherwise qualified to practice pharmacy or as a pharmacy technician in accordance with the generally accepted professional standards of practice, including any or all of the following:
Requiring the licensee, certificant, or registrant to submit to examinations that theboard may order to determine the licensee's or certificant's physical or mental condition or professional qualifications;
Requiring the licensee or certificant to take therapy courses of training or educationthat the board deems necessary to correct deficiencies found either in the hearing or by examinations required pursuant to subsection (3)(a) of this section;
Requiring the review or supervision of the licensee's or certificant's practice to determine the quality of and correct deficiencies in the licensee's or certificant's practice; and
Imposing restrictions upon the nature of the licensee's or certificant's practice to assure that the licensee or certificant does not practice beyond the limits of the licensee's or certificant's capabilities.
Upon failure of the licensee, certificant, or registrant to comply with any conditionsimposed by the board pursuant to subsection (3) of this section, unless due to conditions beyond the licensee's, certificant's, or registrant's control, the board may order suspension of the license, certification, or registration in this state until the licensee, certificant, or registrant complies with the conditions.
(a) Except as provided in subsections (5)(b) and (5)(c) of this section, in addition to any other penalty the board may impose pursuant to this section, the board may fine any registrant violating this article 280 or any rules promulgated pursuant to this article 280 not less than five hundred dollars and not more than five thousand dollars for each violation.
In addition to any other penalty the board may impose pursuant to this section, theboard may fine a registrant violating part 4 of this article 280 not less than five hundred dollars and not more than one thousand dollars for the first time the board imposes a fine, not more than two thousand dollars for the second time the board imposes a fine, and not more than five thousand dollars for a third or subsequent time the board imposes a fine. If a registrant violates an agreement to refrain from committing subsequent violations of part 4 of this article 280, the board may impose a fine of not more than one thousand dollars for each violation of the agreement.
(I) The board, after providing notice and an opportunity to be heard, may fine aregistrant who distributes a veterinary drug in violation of this article 280 not less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars for each violation, with a maximum aggregated fine of five thousand dollars for multiple violations; except that, if, after considering the recommendations of the advisory committee created in section 12-280-106, the board determines that the registrant has committed one or more egregious violations, the board may fine the registrant in accordance with subsection (5)(a) of this section.
(II) In setting a fine, the board shall consider the registrant's ability to pay. If the board determines that paying the fine would cause the registrant an undue hardship, the board shall waive the fine.
The board may send a letter of admonition by certified mail to a licensee, certificant,or registrant under the circumstances specified in and in accordance with section 12-20-404 (4). In the case of a complaint, the board may send a copy of the letter of admonition to the person making the complaint.
(a) The board may send a confidential letter of concern to a licensee, certificant, or registrant under the circumstances specified in section 12-20-404 (5). If a complaint precipitated the investigation, the board shall send a response to the person making the complaint.
A confidential letter of concern is not discipline.
The board may issue cease-and-desist orders under the circumstances and in accordance with the procedures specified in section 12-20-405.
Source: L. 2019: Entire title R&RE with relocations, (HB 19-1172), ch. 136, p. 1473, § 1, effective October 1; (1)(a), (2)(a), IP(2)(b), (2)(b)(I), (3), (4), (6), and (7)(a) amended, (HB 19-1242), ch. 434, p. 3754, § 12, effective October 1.
Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 12-42.5-124 as it existed prior to 2019.
Judicial review. Section 12-20-408 governs judicial review of all final actions and orders of the board that are subject to judicial review.
Source: L. 2019: Entire title R&RE with relocations, (HB 19-1172), ch. 136, p. 1478, § 1, effective October 1.
Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 12-42.5-125 as it existed prior to 2019.
Unlawful acts - civil fines. (1) It is unlawful:
To practice pharmacy without a license;
To obtain or dispense or to procure the administration of a drug by fraud, deceit,misrepresentation, or subterfuge, by the forgery or alteration of an order, or by the use of a false name or the giving of a false address;
To willfully make a false statement in any order, report, application, or record required by this article 280;
To falsely assume the title of or falsely represent that one is a pharmacist, pharmacytechnician, practitioner, or registered outlet;
To make or utter a false or forged order;
To affix a false or forged label to a package or receptacle containing drugs;
To sell, compound, dispense, give, receive, or possess any drug or device unless itwas sold, compounded, dispensed, given, or received in accordance with sections 12-280-120 to 12-280-125;
Except as provided in section 12-280-125, to dispense a different drug or brand ofdrug in place of the drug or brand ordered or prescribed without the oral or written permission of the practitioner ordering or prescribing the drug;
To manufacture, process, pack, distribute, sell, dispense, or give a drug, or the container or labeling of the drug, that, without authorization, bears the trademark, trade name, or other identifying mark, imprint, or device, or any likeness thereof, of a drug manufacturer, processor, packer, or distributor other than the person who in fact manufactured, processed, packed, or distributed the drug, container, or label and that thereby falsely purports or is represented to be the product of or to have been packed or distributed by the other drug manufacturer, processor, packer, or distributor;
For an employer or an employer's agent or employee to coerce a pharmacist to dispense a prescription drug against the professional judgment of the pharmacist;
For an employer, an employer's agent or employee, or a pharmacist to use or coerceto be used nonpharmacist personnel in any position or task that would require the nonpharmacist to practice pharmacy or to make a judgmental decision using pharmaceutical knowledge or in violation of the delegatory restrictions enumerated in section 12-280-118 (5);
To dispense any drug without complying with the labeling, drug identification, andcontainer requirements imposed by law;
(I) To possess, sell, dispense, give, receive, or administer a drug or device that isadulterated or misbranded within the meaning of the "Colorado Food and Drug Act", part 4 of article 5 of title 25, or is a counterfeit drug.
(II) As used in this subsection (1)(m), "counterfeit drug" means a drug, or the container or labeling of a drug, that, without authorization, bears the trademark, trade name, or other identifying mark, imprint, or device or any likeness thereof of a drug manufacturer, processor, packer, or distributor other than the person who in fact manufactured, processed, packed, or distributed the drug and that falsely purports or is represented to be the product of, or to have been packed or distributed by, the drug manufacturer, processor, packer, or distributor whose trademark, trade name, or other identifying mark, imprint, or device or likeness thereof appears on the drug or its container or labeling.
(n) To practice as a pharmacy technician without a certification.
(2) (a) In addition to any other penalties that may be imposed under this part 1, a person who engages in an unlawful act under this section may be punished by a civil fine of not less than one thousand dollars and not more than ten thousand dollars for each violation. Fines imposed and paid under this section shall be deposited in the general fund in accordance with section 12-20-404 (6).
(b) This subsection (2) does not apply to a pharmacy technician.
Source: L. 2019: Entire title R&RE with relocations, (HB 19-1172), ch. 136, p. 1478, §
1, effective October 1; (1)(d) and (2) amended and (1)(n) added, (HB 19-1242), ch. 434, p. 3756, § 13, effective October 1.
Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 12-42.5-126 as it existed prior to 2019.