2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 20 - Pharmacy (§§ 407 — 412c) › Subchapter III - Pharmacy Board (§§ 408 — 408c) › § 408a - Powers, functions, and duties

In addition to any others provided by this chapter, the Board shall have the following powers, functions, and duties:
(a) Authorize the practice of the profession of pharmacy and pharmacy technician occupation to those candidates who meet all the requirements established by this chapter and issue the pharmacist license or pharmacy technician certificate, as it corresponds, with the signature of all members of the Board.
(b) Deny, suspend, or revoke the any the pharmacist license or pharmacy technician certificate to any person who fails to comply with the provisions of the laws and code of ethics which regulate the practice of the profession of pharmacist or the pharmacy technician occupation and the manufacture, distribution and dispensing of drugs.
(c) Administer the licensure examination to applicants for a pharmacist license or for a pharmacy technician certification at least twice (2x) a year.
(d) Authorize internships, establishing by regulations the criteria and standards applicable to practice centers, preceptors and interns.
(e) Authorize or deny recertification to a pharmacist or pharmacy technician as required, and pursuant to the terms and conditions set forth in §§ 3001 et seq. of Title 24, as well as those of this chapter.
(f) Evaluate and acknowledge immunization administration certificates, certificates for specialties within the profession of pharmacy, and other professional credentials granted to pharmacists authorized by recognized professional agencies and institutions.
(g) Prepare and up date a register of the pharmacist licenses and pharmacy technician certificates issued, including, among others, the following information:
(1) Full name of the license or certificate holder.
(2) Date of issue and of each subsequent recertification.
(3) Home address and place in which he/she practices the profession of pharmacy or the pharmacy technician occupation, as the case may be.
(h) Develop and keep a confidential information system on denied, issued, or revoked licenses and certificates, including the score of the pharmacist and pharmacy technician certification examination, the characteristics of the holders as to their age, sex, last school attended, grade point average at the beginning and the end of their professional or technical studies, and any other characteristics or information deemed necessary and convenient by the Board to keep updated a reliable and appropriate information system.
(i) Establish statistical relations on the data of the information system, maintaining the confidentiality of the personal information of the affected persons.
(j) Approve and promulgate the necessary norms to regulate the practice of the profession of pharmacy and of the pharmacy technician occupation with the purpose of protecting and ensuring the best health, safety and welfare to the people.
(k) Initiate investigations or administrative procedures on their own or by a duly sworn complaint or formal complaint filed before the Secretary of Health, the Secretary of Justice or the College of Pharmacists against a pharmacist, pharmacy technician, pharmacist intern, or pharmacy technician intern who incurs in violation of the provisions of the laws and code of ethics that regulate the profession of pharmacy and the pharmacy technician occupation and the manufacture, distribution and dispensing of drugs, endangering the public health.
(l) Establish consultation and coordination mechanisms that are necessary to perform its functions and to comply with the purposes of this chapter, including the contracting, upon previous approval of the Secretary, of essential professional and technical services.
(m) Submit recommendations to competent authorities as to the norms and procedures for the evaluation of educational programs for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians offered in any public or private educational institution in Puerto Rico.
(n) Establish the procedures and mechanisms it deems convenient to achieve the interchange of information with those higher education institutions of Puerto Rico and abroad which have programs, colleges, or schools engaged in the teaching of pharmacy or in the formation and education of pharmacy technicians, on the latest advances, development, discoveries and studies in the pharmacy field.
(o) Execute agreements or compacts with examining boards or similar entities of other jurisdictions to interchange information on denied, suspended or revoked pharmacist licenses and pharmacy technician certificates.
(p) Enter into reciprocity agreements for the practice of the profession of pharmacy with competent and official bodies or entities of other United States jurisdictions.
(q) Participate together with government agencies, professional organizations and associations in activities directed to promote the improvement of standards of the pharmacy practice for the protection of the public health and welfare.
(r) Keep a detailed thorough register of all higher education institutions of Puerto Rico having accredited pharmacy colleges or programs and of educational institutions accredited or recognized by the pertinent authority offering pharmacy technician program.
(s) Collect any fees established in this chapter, which shall be covered into a special account as provided in § 409n of this title, issue the corresponding receipt and keeps a complete and thorough accounting on the collected and received sums.
(t) Receive and use funds received from sources other than the State, or from fees, provided:
(1) Said funds have been granted for a specific purpose that the Board is authorized carry it out by this chapter to;
(2) said funds are used to attain the purpose for which they were granted;
(3) keep said funds in a separate account;
(4) submit periodical reports to the Secretary on the receipt and expenditure of said funds, and
(5) activities in which said funds are spent shall not interfere nor conflict with the duties and responsibilities of the Board.
(u) Adopt an official seal which shall be affixed on the original of every official document issued by the Board.
(v) Adopt any rules and regulations necessary to enforce this chapter pursuant to the provisions of §§ 2101 et seq. of Title 3, known as the “Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Uniform Administrative Procedures Act”.
(w) Submit to the Governor, through the Secretary, an annual report on the works and efforts made during the year corresponding to such report, the same shall include, without it being understood as a limitation: statistical data on licenses, certificates, permits, and recertification issued, denied, and revoked, complaints pending resolution at the time of the report, any income received by the Board and any other information required by the Secretary or that, at the judgment of the Board, is pertinent.
History —Sept. 3, 2004, No. 247, § 3.02; Jan. 8, 2010, No. 7, § 4.