All Roll Calls
Yes: 97 • No: 1
IdahoH 02002025 regular legislative sessionHouseWALLET
PHARMACISTS – Amends, repeals, and adds to existing law to update provisions regarding the practice of pharmacy in Idaho.
Sponsored By: HEALTH AND WELFARE COMMITTEE
Signed by Governor
PHARMACISTS
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
28 provisions identified: 10 benefits, 5 costs, 13 mixed.
Pharmacists can prescribe and complete treatment plans
Pharmacists can independently prescribe for conditions they are trained and competent to treat. They must establish a patient-prescriber relationship, gather adequate health information, follow care standards, and keep records. They must consult or refer patients when appropriate. These general requirements exclude the listed device, nonprescription-drug, collaborative-agreement, direct-administration, and emergency-drug activities. Providers can also leave drug details and directions for a pharmacist to complete the patient's treatment plan.
Compounded medicines face limits and exceptions
Beginning July 1, 2025, human-use drugs cannot be compounded if the FDA identifies compounding difficulties or withdraws or removes them. Commercially available drugs can be compounded only if not made regularly or in excessive amounts, or unavailable in time for a patient. Limited advance compounding or sterile prepackaging is allowed when there is a history of valid prescriptions for that product. Compounding outside Idaho's permitted pharmacy practice counts as manufacturing.
Patients can receive protected prescription deliveries
Filled prescriptions can be delivered when safeguards protect the medicine's safety and quality. Authorized workers must use a secured delivery area for pickups and returns. The law does not set a delivery fee.
Pharmacists gain flexibility filling patient prescriptions
Pharmacists can fill prescriptions in portions, without exceeding the total amount prescribed. Prescriber-authorized refills remain subject to federal law; pharmacists can also refill prescriptions to keep care from stopping. Quantity changes are allowed for availability, dosage-form or strength issues, therapeutic interchange, matching refill dates, or an authorized total quantity. A dosage-form change must serve the patient's best interest, with directions adjusted to deliver an equivalent amount. Pharmacists can complete missing information only when evidence supports the change.
Pharmacy license fees have dollar caps
The law caps nonrefundable fees, which the division must post; actual charges can be lower. Initial/annual renewal caps are $140/$130 for pharmacists, $290/$290 for nonresident persons in charge, $50/$50 for interns, and $35/$35 for technicians. Caps are $60/$60 for practitioner controlled-drug registration, $100/$100 for drug outlets, $180/$180 for wholesale licenses, and $150/$150 for wholesale registrations. Nonresident central drug outlets, mail service pharmacies, and nonresident outsourcing facilities each have caps of $500 initially and $250 for renewal. Caps are $50/$50 for durable medical equipment outlets, $150/$150 for manufacturers, and $35/$35 for veterinary drug outlets.
Easier Idaho entry for out-of-state pharmacists
Nonresident pharmacists need no Idaho license or registration when actively licensed at home and working for an Idaho-registered nonresident outlet. The person in charge must still register. Reciprocity applicants no longer need their first-licensing state to offer matching reciprocity, but must apply and pay the fee. They still need Idaho-qualifying credentials at initial licensure, proof of examination-based initial licensure, and qualifying unrestricted licensure. Out-of-state certificate applicants need an active license in good standing where they practice, an application, and the fee. The board cannot add requirements under that section, which also removes its rule-compliance requirement. Certificate holders must follow Idaho law unless it conflicts with law where they are located.
More graduates qualify as pharmacy interns
Foreign pharmacy graduates can qualify as Idaho pharmacist interns while awaiting final pharmacist licensure. They must hold certification from the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Examination Committee. The definition continues to include students in good standing at accredited pharmacy schools and people who completed those programs.
Pharmacy interns get fee-free renewal options
Pharmacist interns must register before starting an internship and renew registration every two years. The law also states that annual renewal by July 15 carries no renewal fee. After graduation, an intern application can receive a free extension of up to 12 months from the pharmacist application date. More time requires a petition showing exceptional circumstances.
Idaho pharmacies face stronger safety oversight
Idaho's pharmacy board must inspect drug outlets before opening when applicable, and at regular intervals afterward. Idaho-based outlets must secure equipment, records, and restricted-sale items, and store controlled drugs under federal rules. They must limit prescription-area access to authorized staff and have enough workers to operate safely during posted hours. Outlets dispensing more than 20 prescriptions daily must keep electronic patient medication records with an audit trail.
Prescription checks, counseling, and clearer labels
Outlets must fill valid prescriptions, review medicines before dispensing, verify selected stock, and use suitable containers and accurate, federally compliant labels. Without pharmacist stock verification, an electronic system or two support people must verify it. New medicines require counseling; refills and renewals require an offer, unless refused, impossible, or administered by a health professional to an inpatient. Prepackaged drugs expire by the earliest of the manufacturer's date, one year after prepackaging, or a shorter product-based limit. Injectable mixtures need an addition date and time or use-by date; repackaged labels need prescription, original pharmacy, and repackager details.
Licensed drug outlets avoid duplicate registration
Beginning July 1, 2025, drug outlets with a valid Idaho pharmacy license or registration need no separate controlled-substance registration. The exemption removes a separate registration step for qualifying outlets.
Prescription refills need direct prescriber authorization
Prescription drugs can be refilled only as the prescription states or as the prescriber authorizes. Pharmacy board rules no longer provide a separate basis for extra refills. A violation remains a misdemeanor carrying up to one year in county jail, a $1,000 fine, or both.
Idaho bans unlawful prescription drug sites
A place used for unlawful prescription-drug use, storage, or sale is a common nuisance. People cannot keep or maintain such a place. They also cannot knowingly visit or spend time there.
Controlled-drug prescribers face registration safeguards
Idaho controlled-drug registration requires a valid prescribing license or registration and an Idaho practice address open to Board inspection. When federal law requires federal drug registration, prescribers must obtain it within 45 days or Idaho registration automatically cancels. These registration requirements exclude nonresident prescribers who only prescribe into Idaho. Prescribers cannot write controlled-drug prescriptions for themselves; doing so is unprofessional conduct subject to discipline.
Drug outlets must track controlled medicines
Outlets handling controlled drugs must keep complete, accurate records and meet federal record and inventory standards. Each registered location must take inventory every two years, within seven days after the prior inventory's calendar date. A mismatch between drugs counted and records creates a presumption of missing required records or inventories, which the outlet can challenge. Beginning July 1, 2025, outlets dispensing controlled drugs for human patients in or into Idaho must report prescription-tracking data. Reports go to the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses by the end of the business day, not from patients.
Pharmacies face record and notice deadlines
Drug outlets must keep required records for at least three years after each transaction and produce them within 72 hours. Readable central or electronic storage is allowed, unless the chapter sets another record rule. Outlets must give 10 days' advance notice of relocation or permanent closure and report majority ownership changes within 30 days. Disasters require notice as soon as possible; controlled-drug theft or loss requires Board notice the same day it is reported to federal drug authorities. Authorized distributors report specified controlled-drug data monthly; licensees have 30 days to report renewal-information changes and specified final convictions, discipline, or license surrenders.
Drug returns limited; disposal collection allowed
Drug outlets registered as federal drug collectors can collect controlled and noncontrolled medicines for destruction. Other returns of dispensed drugs or devices are limited to three cases. A pharmacist can find that a return is needed to prevent harm, or prescription drugs can qualify for lawful donation. A return is also allowed if the item never reached the patient and stayed under outlet control with its integrity assured.
Pharmacists can switch drugs within limits
Equivalent-product selection is limited to FDA Orange Book or Green Book listings, and is barred when the prescriber requires the brand. Different-drug substitutions are allowed under hospital drug lists or institutional committee direction, or for FDA-listed interchangeable biosimilars. A same-class drug switch is also allowed when it lowers the patient's cost or addresses a shortage. Biosimilar substitutions require the drug name and manufacturer or National Drug Code number in the patient's medical record.
Prescription orders gain options and safeguards
Prescriptions can arrive as signed paper orders, digital images, electronic orders, phone orders, or faxes from authorized senders. Orders must identify the patient or authorized entity, issue date, drug name, strength, quantity, directions, and prescriber's name and signature. Animal orders must identify the species; an authorized agent can sign a renewal. Controlled-drug orders also require patient and prescriber addresses and the prescriber's federal drug registration number. Only the writer can alter a prescription, and prescriptions cannot carry an earlier or later date than the actual date.
Remote dispensing gets safeguards and closures
Outlets serving human patients without an on-site pharmacist or prescriber must provide audio access for counseling and patient interaction. They must keep video recordings for at least 30 days; self-service automated systems are exempt from video. Outlets must close to the public whenever a required system fails. Off-site drugs retrieved by licensed health professionals must stay under the supervising outlet's control, secured, monitored, and inventoried. Support staff stocking those drugs need verification by an electronic system or two support people.
Pharmacy licenses get reinstatement and checks
Pharmacist license reinstatement requires 30 hours of continuing education within 24 months and compliance with prior board orders. Applicants over age 18 seeking an original pharmacy certificate or reinstatement must undergo fingerprint-based criminal history checks. The board may require a competency demonstration after both an Idaho license lapse and at least 24 months without practice. The board can cancel certificates that no longer meet Idaho pharmacy law requirements.
New ingredient rules for compounded medicines
Beginning July 1, 2025, compounders and sterile prepackagers serving Idaho must get active ingredients from FDA-registered manufacturers. They must follow cleaning, product-separation, and finished-product quality rules. Ingredients need test certificates unless they meet an applicable U.S. Pharmacopeia–National Formulary standard. Required certificates must stay on file for at least three years from the specified container-disposal date. Exceptions cover immediate reconstitution, minimum amounts of inactive flavoring or coloring, and nonsterile, nonhazardous preparation following FDA-approved manufacturer instructions.
Pharmacy enforcement gains clearer legal limits
The Board can investigate alleged violations and demand access to records required by pharmacy law. Statutory discipline grounds cover unethical or unsafe care, dangerous incompetence or impairment, diversion, prescription violations, poor-quality drugs, unnecessary care, and inspection or Board-order failures. Nonresident licensees remain accountable for workers' violations, which the Board can report to other agencies; discipline follows Idaho's administrative procedures. Several rule-based discipline grounds are removed, and the recordkeeping misdemeanor now covers records required by the Pharmacy Act rather than the Board. The up-to-$3,000-per-offense fine and misdemeanor clause is limited to unlawful pharmacy practice, not a separate category of rule violations. The title-use ban still covers unlicensed use of pharmacist titles but no longer extends to every similar title or description.
Stronger safeguards for specialized drug preparation
Beginning July 1, 2025, sterile drug preparation must meet handling and sterility standards, including for injections and eye medicines. Drug outlets need a separate, properly equipped preparation area, except for drugs prepared for immediate administration. Required records cover testing, training, audits, temperatures, use-by dates, and equipment. Hazardous-drug work also requires ventilation, containment, protective equipment, labels, restricted storage until final packaging, and staff training. Cabinets that return air to the room are banned unless the drugs cannot vaporize during handling or the manufacturer documents safety.
Pharmacy board powers and rules change
Beginning July 1, 2025, the existing Board pharmacy rules in IDAPA 24.36.01 have no effect, and Code Section 54-1771 is repealed. The supplied text does not identify that section's former requirements or all effects of ending those rules. The Board's listed duties no longer include setting minimum pharmacy equipment, environment, supply, and procedure standards. The law removes a bar on Board rules governing nonprescription sales, including pharmacist supervision, but does not itself require supervision. It also repeals the Board-member compensation section without stating how payments change.
Pharmacy workers face updated practice requirements
Idaho can recognize another state's intern and technician registrations without requiring similar registration standards. Mutual recognition still requires comparable fingerprint checks and equivalent practice privileges for Idaho licensees. Similar licensing or registration standards remain required for pharmacists and drug outlets. Pharmacists must attest at each renewal that continuing education maintains competence for their practice setting. The Board's stated duties also expressly include regulating pharmacy technicians.
Drug outlets face revised licensing rules
Drug and device outlets must apply for the proper Idaho certificate, supply ownership and location information, and pay fees before operating. Nonresident outlets need good standing at home; a nonresident pharmacy's person in charge needs a home-state license and Idaho registration. Each facility must be inspected after receiving a new license or registration. Certified outlets must follow Idaho law unless doing so violates their home-state law; express references to Board and home-state rules are removed. The law also removes classification-specific rulemaking duties and express authority for outlet-type certificate restrictions.
Drug wholesalers face checks and recognition
Wholesalers distributing prescription drugs, durable medical equipment, or pseudoephedrine in or into Idaho need a license unless a statutory exception applies. Designated representatives must disclose under oath specified felony convictions, drug-distribution convictions, and related state discipline. Wholesalers must track drug sources, shipment locations, types, amounts, receipt, distribution, disposal, and controlled-drug invoices. The Board must accept National Association of Boards of Pharmacy accreditation for reciprocal licensing recognition and the new-outlet inspection requirement.
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsor
HEALTH AND WELFARE COMMITTEE
Affiliation unavailable
Cosponsors
Mark Harris
Republican • Senate
Jordan Redman
Republican • House
Roll Call Votes
Senate vote • 3/10/2025
Senate Floor Vote
Yes: 35 • No: 0
House vote • 2/24/2025
House Floor Vote
Yes: 62 • No: 1
Actions Timeline
Reported Signed by Governor on March 18, 2025 Session Law Chapter 93 Effective: 07/01/2025; 07/01/2025 IDAPA Sunset Clause - SECTION 50
3/19/2025Delivered to Governor at 11:20 a.m. on March 13, 2025
3/14/2025Returned Signed by the President; Ordered Transmitted to Governor
3/13/2025SenateSigned by President; returned to House
3/12/2025SenateReceived from the House enrolled/signed by Speaker
3/12/2025SenateReported Enrolled; Signed by Speaker; Transmitted to Senate
3/12/2025HouseReturned from Senate Passed; to JRA for Enrolling
3/11/2025HouseRead third time in full – PASSED - 35-0-0
3/10/2025SenateRead second time; filed for Third Reading
3/4/2025SenateReported out of Committee with Do Pass Recommendation; Filed for second reading
3/3/2025SenateIntroduced, read first time; referred to: Health & Welfare
2/25/2025SenateReceived from the House passed; filed for first reading
2/25/2025SenateRead Third Time in Full – PASSED - 62-1-7
2/24/2025HouseU.C. to hold place on third reading calendar until Monday, February 24, 2025
2/21/2025HouseRead second time; Filed for Third Reading
2/20/2025HouseReported out of Committee with Do Pass Recommendation, Filed for Second Reading
2/19/2025HouseReported Printed and Referred to Health & Welfare
2/11/2025HouseIntroduced, read first time, referred to JRA for Printing
2/10/2025House
Bill Text
Bill Text
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