Pharmacy Technicians Must Be Licensed In Michigan

On September 23, 2014, Governor Snyder signed a new law requiring pharmacy technicians to be licensed in the State of Michigan. This new law is take effect on December 22, 2014 (i.e., 90 days from the date it was signed into law). Pharmacy technicians will be required to submit an application for licensure, have graduated high school or passed the GED and submit proof of passing a certified pharmacy technician examination. There is a provision within the law that allows an employer to provide training in lieu of such examination but such training program must be pre-approved by the Board of Pharmacy. Furthermore, the examination requirement is not required if the individual is a student in a pharmacy technician program approved by the Board of Pharmacy or is applying for a temporary license [which is available for students preparing to take the examination but is only good for 210 days from the date the temporary license is issued] or limited license [which is available for an individual who (i)was employed as a pharmacy technician on the effective date of the new law and has been continuously employed by the pharmacy since the effective date, (ii) submits a completed licensure application and pays the applicable fee, and (iii) provides satisfactory proof of employment as a pharmacy technician for at least 1,000 during the 2-year preceding the application] as set forth in the new law. Once licensed, a pharmacy technician will be required to complete at least 20 hours of Board-approved continuing education courses/programs every 2 years. The new law in its entirety is available at: http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2013-2014/publicact/pdf/2014-PA-0285.pdf.

It should be noted that under the new law, pharmacy technicians cannot handle the transfer of controlled substance prescriptions and cannot receive verbal orders for controlled substance prescriptions. For pharmacies and pharmacists who have been plagued by theft by pharmacy technicians this new law will make it much more difficult for such technicians to seek employment elsewhere if the theft is reported to the Board of Pharmacy since they will now be held accountable and would likely lose their licenses thereby preventing them from working elsewhere.

Robert S. Iwrey Esq., a founding partner of The Health Law Partners, P.C., practices in all areas of healthcare law and devotes a substantial portion of his practice assisting clients in pharmacy legal matters including compliance, third party payor audits, government investigations, state licensing and DEA registrations. For more information regarding this article, please contact Robert S. Iwrey, Esq. at (248) 996-8510 or (212) 734-0128 or riwrey@thehlp.com.