March 3, 1975 

The Honorable J. H. Arnette, R. Ph. 

Texas State Board of Pharmacy 

914 Littlefield Building 

Austin, Texas 78701 

Opinion No. H- 542 

Re: Whether Board of Pharmacy, 

when it has closed a pharmacy 

department, may post a sign to 

that effect. 

Dear Mr. Arnette: 

On behalf of the Texas State Board of Pharmacy you have asked 

whether the Board under article 4542a, V. T. C. S. (the act regulating 

pharmaceutical practices in Texas), has the authority to direct that in the 

prescription departments or areas of pharmacies which have been duly 

determined by the Board to have violated the laws respecting pharmaceuticals 

a sign be posted informing the public that “This Prescription Department 

has been closed by order of the Texas State Board of Pharmacy, ” during 

such times as the Board has directed that the pharmacy department of a 

retail outlet be closed. 

Section 4 of article 4542a, V. T. C. S., confers on the Board the 

power “to make by-laws and regulations, not inconsistent with the law, 

for the proper performance of its duties and the duties of its officers 

and employees. . . .” Section 7 makes it the duty of the Board to see 

that the pharmacy laws are enforced. Section 15 requires that “[i]n all 

stores in which a registered pharmacist is continually employed and 

- 

where the provisions of this Act have been fully complied with, there 

should be displayed in a prominent place in or on the front of said store 

the word “pharmacy. ” Section 16 makes it unlawful for any person to 

display in or on any place of business any words which would mislead 

the public into believing that prescriprions could be filled there. Section 

20A, added by Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., ch. 431,. p. 1178, recognizes that 

prescription drugs are designated as such because they are patent medications not safe for use except when medically necessary and then only under 

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The Honorable J.H. Arnette, page 2 (H-542) 

close.professional supervision and control, and section 21 specifies that 

every license to ,any proprietor or employee to conduct a drug store or 

pharmacy shall be conspicuously displayed in the place of business. 

The Board does not have the authority to confiscate all indicia 

which might mislead the public. Attorney General Opinion O-3109 (1941). 

The pharmacy, although closed, will usually still be present in its same 

physical location, and outward appearance might be such that many 

potential customers, especially those who had patronized the pharmacy 

in the past, might be misled into believing that prescriptions could be 

filled there. In such situations we think that it is within the authority of 

the Texas State Board of Pharmacy, if done pursuant to duly adopted and 

fairly administered regulations, to direct that such places of business 

which have been prohibited from dispensing drugs but which retain indicia 

which might mislead the public into believing otherwise, post the sign 

referred to above during such times as the Board has properly directed 

that the pharmacy department of such a place of business be closed. 

SUMMARY 

The Texas State Board of Pharmacy under 

appropriate circumstances and pursuant to fairly 

administered regulations and for purposes of protecting the public against misleading appearances 

may direct that a sign be posted informing the 

public that a prescription department of a retail 

outlet has been closed by order of the Board. 

Very truly yours, 

C. ROBERT HEATH, Chairman 

Opinion Committee 

p. 2437