As mentioned in the last issue, the legislature passed “The Larry W. Border Pharmacy Practice Act,” House Bill 2577, on April 13, 2013, setting an effective date of July 1, 2013. As it was going through toward passage, some noticed that the language would require every pharmacist practicing “pharma- cist care” in West Virginia to have a West Virginia pharmacist license. This is not a surprising concept, of course; that is, until people noticed that the language would require all out- of-state pharmacists dispensing from mail-order pharmacies into West Virginia to be licensed in this state, which would be a new burden if implemented. There are approximately 360 active mail-order permits issued by the West Virginia Board of Pharmacy, with the vast majority of those being out-of-state permits. So, the act was amended to provide that only the pharmacist-in-charge (PIC) of the out-of-state mail-order pharmacy would have to be licensed as a West Virginia pharmacist; the other pharmacists working under the PIC would simply need a valid pharmacist license in the state where the pharmacy is located. The Board noted that the PICs around the country would need some time to reciprocate their licenses to West Virginia. So, the Board voted to allow until July 1, 2014, for the out-of-state mail-order pharmacies and their PICs to become compliant. If you are one of those PICs, the Board looks forward to working with you through the licensing and reciprocation process in the coming weeks.
quoted from the West Virginia Board of Pharmacy September 2013 Newsletter
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