HB 1117 2023
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A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to the medical treatment of animals; 2
providing a short title; amending s. 474.202, F.S.; 3
defining the term "veterinary telemedicine"; creating 4
s. 474.2021, F.S.; authorizing veterinarians to 5
practice veterinary telemedicine; providing licensure 6
requirements to practice veterinary telemedicine; 7
providing jurisdiction of the Board of Veterinary 8
Medicine; requiring a veterinarian practicing 9
telemedicine to establish a 10
veterinarian/client/patient relationship, provide the 11
client with specified information, and employ certain 12
professional judgments regarding the use of veterinary 13
telemedicine; authorizing a veterinarian practicing 14
telemedicine to order , prescribe, or make available 15
specified medicinal drugs; prohibiting such 16
veterinarian from ordering, prescribing, or making 17
available controlled substances unless certain 18
conditions are met; authorizing veterinarians to 19
practice veterinary telemedicine f or animals on 20
certain animal operations if the veterinarian meets 21
certain conditions; amending s. 474.203, F.S.; 22
conforming provisions to changes made by the act; 23
amending s. 474.214, F.S.; revising grounds for 24
disciplinary action against a veterinarian; a mending 25
HB 1117 2023
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s. 474.2165, F.S.; revising the definition of the term 26
"records owner" to conform to changes made by the act; 27
amending s. 828.30, F.S.; authorizing certain 28
employees, agents, or contractors to administer rabies 29
vaccinations under certain circumstan ces; providing 30
that a supervising veterinarian assumes responsibility 31
for any person working under the veterinarian's 32
supervision or at his or her direction; defining the 33
term "indirect supervision"; authorizing a 34
veterinarian who indirectly supervises the 35
administration of the rabies vaccination to affix his 36
or her signature stamp in lieu of an actual signature 37
on the rabies vaccination certificate; providing an 38
effective date. 39
40
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 41
42
Section 1. This act may be cited as the "Providing Equity 43
in Telemedicine Services (PETS) Act." 44
Section 2. Subsection (14) is added to section 474.202, 45
Florida Statutes, to read: 46
474.202 Definitions. —As used in this chapter: 47
(14) "Veterinary telemedicine" mea ns the practice of 48
veterinary medicine using synchronous, audiovisual, interactive 49
telecommunications technology. 50
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Section 3. Section 474.2021, Florida Statutes, is created 51
to read: 52
474.2021 Veterinary telemedicine. — 53
(1) A veterinarian may practice veterinary telemedicine. 54
(2) A veterinarian must hold a current license to practice 55
veterinary medicine in this state in order to practice 56
veterinary telemedicine. The practice of veterinary medicine is 57
deemed to occur at the premises where the patient i s located at 58
the time the veterinarian practices veterinary telemedicine. 59
(3) The board has jurisdiction over a veterinarian 60
practicing veterinary telemedicine in this state, regardless of 61
where the veterinarian's physical office is located. 62
(4) A veterinarian practicing telemedicine shall do all of 63
the following: 64
(a) Establish the veterinarian/client/patient 65
relationship. 66
(b) Provide the client with a statement containing the 67
veterinarian's identity, license number, and contact information 68
and the contact information for at least one physical veterinary 69
clinic in the vicinity of the pet's location and instructions 70
for how to receive patient follow -up care or assistance if the 71
veterinarian and client are unable to communicate because of a 72
technological or equipment failure or if there is an adverse 73
reaction to treatment. The veterinarian shall obtain from the 74
client a signed and dated statement indicating the client has 75
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received the required information. 76
(c) Employ sound, professional judgment to determine 77
whether using veterinary telemedicine is an appropriate method 78
for delivering medical advice or treatment to the patient and 79
providing quality of care consistent with prevailing veterinary 80
medical practice. The practice of veterinary telemedicine in 81
compliance with this section is not a quality -of-care violation, 82
and a veterinarian may not be disciplined solely for practicing 83
veterinary telemedicine. 84
(5) A veterinarian practicing veterinary telemedicin e may 85
order, prescribe, or make available medicinal drugs or drugs as 86
defined in chapter 465. 87
(6) A veterinarian practicing veterinary telemedicine may 88
not order, prescribe, or make available controlled substances as 89
defined in chapter 893 unless the vet erinarian has performed an 90
in-person physical examination of the patient or made medically 91
appropriate and timely visits to the premises where the patient 92
is kept. 93
(7) A veterinarian personally acquainted with the caring 94
and keeping of an animal or group of animals on food-producing 95
animal operations on land classified as agricultural pursuant to 96
s. 193.461 who has recently seen the animal or group of animals 97
or has made medically appropriate and timely visits to the 98
premises where the animal or group of animals is kept may 99
practice veterinary telemedicine for animals on such operations 100
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in compliance with this section and applicable federal law. 101
Section 4. Paragraph (a) of subsection (5) of section 102
474.203, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 103
474.203 Exemptions.—This chapter does not apply to: 104
(5)(a) Any person, or the person's regular employee, 105
administering to the ills or injuries of her or his own animals, 106
including, but not limited to, castration, spaying, and 107
dehorning of herd animals, unless title is transferred or 108
employment provided for the purpose of circumventing this law. 109
This exemption does not apply to any person licensed as a 110
veterinarian in another state or foreign jurisdiction and 111
practicing temporarily in this state. However, except as 112
provided in s. 828.30, only a veterinarian may immunize or treat 113
an animal for diseases that are communicable to humans and that 114
are of public health significance. 115
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For the purposes of chapters 465 and 893, persons exempt 117
pursuant to subsection (1), s ubsection (2), or subsection (4) 118
are deemed to be duly licensed practitioners authorized by the 119
laws of this state to prescribe drugs or medicinal supplies. 120
Section 5. Paragraph (y) of subsection (1) of section 121
474.214, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 122
474.214 Disciplinary proceedings. — 123
(1) The following acts shall constitute grounds for which 124
the disciplinary actions in subsection (2) may be taken: 125
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(y) Using the privilege of ordering, prescribing, or 126
making available medicinal drugs or drugs as defined in chapter 127
465, or controlled substances as defined in chapter 893, for use 128
other than for the specific treatment of animal patients for 129
which there is a documented veterinarian/client/patient 130
relationship. Pursuant thereto, The veterinarian shall: 131
1. Have sufficient knowledge of the animal to initiate at 132
least a general or preliminary diagnosis of the medical 133
condition of the animal, which means that the veterinarian is 134
personally acquainted with the keeping and caring of the animal 135
and has recently performed an examination of the patient either 136
in person or by the use of veterinary telemedicine in compliance 137
with s. 474.2021 seen the animal or has made medically 138
appropriate and timely visits to the premises where the animal 139
is kept. 140
2. Be available or provide for follow-up followup care and 141
treatment in case of adverse reactions or failure of the regimen 142
of therapy. 143
3. Maintain records which document patient visits, 144
diagnosis, treatment, and other relevant information required 145
under this chapter. 146
Section 6. Subsection (1) of section 474.2165, Florida 147
Statutes, is amended to read: 148
474.2165 Ownership and control of veterinary medical 149
patient records; report or copies of records to be furnished. — 150
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(1) As used in this section, the term " records owner" 151
means any veterinarian who generates a medical record after 152
making an a physical examination of a patient, either in person 153
or by the use of veterinary telemedicine in compliance with s. 154
474.2021, or administering treatment or dispensing leg end drugs 155
to, any patient; any veterinarian to whom records are 156
transferred by a previous records owner; or any veterinarian's 157
employer, provided the employment contract or agreement between 158
the employer and the veterinarian designates the employer as the 159
records owner. 160
Section 7. Subsections (1) and (3) of section 828.30, 161
Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 162
828.30 Rabies vaccination of dogs, cats, and ferrets. — 163
(1)(a) All dogs, cats, and ferrets 4 months of age or 164
older must be vaccinated by a l icensed veterinarian or, in the 165
case of impounded animals, a person authorized under paragraph 166
(b) against rabies with a vaccine that is licensed by the United 167
States Department of Agriculture for use in those species. 168
(b) An employee, an agent, or a con tractor of a county or 169
municipal animal control authority acting under the indirect 170
supervision of a veterinarian may vaccinate impounded dogs, 171
cats, and ferrets that will be transferred, rescued, fostered, 172
adopted, or reclaimed by the owner. The supervisi ng veterinarian 173
assumes responsibility for any person vaccinating animals at the 174
veterinarian's direction or under his or her supervision. As 175
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used in this paragraph, the term "indirect supervision" means 176
that the supervising veterinarian is required to be available 177
for consultation through telecommunications but is not required 178
to be physically present during such consultation. 179
(c) The owner of every dog, cat, and ferret shall have the 180
animal revaccinated 12 months after the initial vaccination. 181
Thereafter, the interval between vaccinations shall conform to 182
the vaccine manufacturer's directions. The cost of vaccination 183
must be borne by the animal's owner. Evidence of circulating 184
rabies virus neutralizing antibodies may shall not be used as a 185
substitute for current vaccination in managing rabies exposure 186
or determining the need for booster vaccinations. 187
(3) Upon vaccination against rabies, the licensed 188
veterinarian shall provide the animal's owner and the animal 189
control authority with a rabies vaccination certificate. Each 190
animal control authority and veterinarian shall use the "Rabies 191
Vaccination Certificate" of the National Association of State 192
Public Health Veterinarians (NASPHV) or an equivalent form 193
approved by the local government which that contains all the 194
information required by the NASPHV Rabies Vaccination 195
Certificate. The veterinarian who administers the rabies 196
vaccination, or who supervises the administration of the rabies 197
vaccination as provided in paragraph (1)(b), vaccine to an 198
animal as authorized required under this section may affix his 199
or her signature stamp in lieu of an actual signature. 200
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Section 8. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 201