The modified law will affect every OP in the US, assuming that they are going to do business from within, or into, Florida. If the OP is located outside of Florida, AND they choose to stop servicing Florida customers, this law will not effect them, other than the fact that they will lose all of their Florida patients. However, the effect on any OP that is based within Florida is unavoidable. All Florda based OP's must stop looking like pharmacies, or they will need to get licensed.

There are a few important issues with this modified law. The most important is that it pertains to ALL entities that are doing pharmacy business, either from within Florida, or with patients that reside within Florida, and not just those places where drugs are actually stored. The law's definition, of which entities are pharmacies, is very broad. It basically says that any business that is doing stuff that makes it look like a pharmacy, will be considered to be a pharmacy, and that they will need to be properly licensed, as a pharmacy. It will not matter that there are no medications actually located at the physical location of the OP.

While obtaining licenses is nothing new for the "real" pharmacies, it will have a severe impact on the OP's that advertise medications and/or collect money for them. Every "real" pharmacy must already have proper licensure, if they are going to service any patients. This is nothing new. What IS new is that, because of these legal changes, any OP that looks like a pharmacy, will need to obtain a license, for itself. Claiming that the licenses held by their associated pharmacies cover them, will not be sufficient.

Any OP that continues doing Florida business will either have to change their business practices, obtain a pharmacy license for itself, or face legal problems. There are many OP's that present themselves as pharmacies, when they really are not. They either directly state that they are a pharmacy service, or they present evidence that they are conducting pharmacy related business (drug names and prices on their sites and/or charging for prescriptions).

All that any OP needs to do, to prevent having to get a pharmacy license, is stop looking like a pharmacy. Delete all drug name and prices from their sites, and stop charging for the medications. The OP's main business is to do recordkeeping and consultation scheduling, and they should charge only for those services. The pharmacies need to be responsible for providing prices for all medications, and the pharmacies should charge directly for them, when dispensed.

I again state that these legal changes will not prevent any OP from doing business in Florida, but they will require that the OP's change the way they have been operating.