On August 20, 2025, the Alabama Board of Pharmacy (the “Board”) issued its long-awaited non-disciplinary penalty schedule via emergency rulemaking. The rule went into effect immediately and will expire on December 18, 2025.
As previously discussed in our February 24, 2025 and April 10, 2025 updates, recent legislation required the Board to adopt an administrative penalty schedule to resolve eligible matters with a non-disciplinary fine. Effective January 1, 2026, the Board is prohibited from imposing a non-disciplinary administrative fine unless the monetary penalty is addressed by an adopted schedule.
The published table outlines violations eligible non-disciplinary action, the monetary amount of the administrative fine, and the type of individual or entity eligible for the fine.
Violations eligible for non-disciplinary resolution include:
- Operating with an expired license or shipping to an entity with an expired permit;
- Failure to complete continuing education;
- Technician training and documentation;
- Failure to complete training within 6 months.
- Failure to submit documentation of training within 10 days.
- Allowing a technician to work without completing training.
- Failure to report change in employment within 10 days;
- Late notification of change in supervising pharmacist, designated representative or ownership;
- Untimely change notice.
- Untimely submission of action plan following supervising pharmacist departure.
- Untimely identification of new supervising pharmacist or designated representative after initiating an action plan.
- Pharmacy premises and personnel violations
- Unauthorized presence of individual inside the pharmacy.
- Failure to maintain required records, display license, or notify the Board of DEA drug collector authorization.
- Failure to renew collaborative practice agreement.
- Exceeding technician to pharmacist or intern to pharmacist ratio or failing to wear pharmacy technician name tag.
- Violating code of professional conduct where violation does not, in the Board’s judgment, (1) implicate public safety or direct patient care and (2) caused the Board to expend resources to evaluate and/or correct.
The Alabama State Board of Pharmacy’s emergency rule sets out a schedule of non-disciplinary fines that increase with the length of noncompliance. For instance, operating a pharmacy with an expired permit between January 1 and January 31 of any given year results in a $1,000 fine, but after January 31 the penalty increases to $1,500 plus $75 per prescription dispensed. Wholesalers distributing prescription drugs or controlled substances face a $1,750 flat fine during the January window, which rises to $1,750 plus $400 per invoice thereafter. Additional penalties include $10 per day (up to $1,000) for failing to provide timely notice of a supervising pharmacist change and $500 for failing to report a designated representative change within 30 days.
Critically, once a non-disciplinary administrative fine is issued for a violation, that individual or entity may not receive another administrative fine for the same violation for a period of ten years. Subsequent violations will be treated as disciplinary matters. However, the schedule authorizes penalties for subsequent violations related to continuing education and untimely reporting of employment.
While this emergency rule is in effect, the Board is undergoing formal rulemaking to adopt the provisions with a public hearing scheduled for October 15, 2025. To comment on the proposed rule, interested parties may submit comments to anolen@albop.com until October 10, 2025, at 4:00 PM CDT. The disciplinary civil penalty schedule has not yet been published.
