Florida Senate - 2023 SB 554 By Senator Gruters 22-01167-23 2023554__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to the medical treatment of animals; 3 providing a short title; amending s. 474.202, F.S.; 4 redefining the term patient; defining the term 5 veterinary telemedicine; creating s. 474.2021, F.S.; 6 authorizing licensed veterinarians to practice 7 veterinary telemedicine; authorizing a veterinarian 8 practicing telemedicine to order, prescribe, or make 9 available specified medicinal drugs and controlled 10 substances; providing requirements for use of 11 veterinary telemedicine in veterinarian referrals; 12 providing jurisdiction of the Board of Veterinary 13 Medicine with regard to practicing veterinary 14 telemedicine; amending s. 474.203, F.S.; conforming 15 provisions to changes made by the act; amending s. 16 474.214, F.S.; revising grounds for disciplinary 17 action against a veterinarian; amending s. 828.30, 18 F.S.; authorizing certain employees, agents, or 19 contractors to administer rabies vaccinations under 20 certain circumstances; providing that a supervising 21 veterinarian assumes responsibility for any person 22 working under the veterinarians supervision or at his 23 or her direction; defining the term indirect 24 supervision; authorizing a veterinarian who 25 indirectly supervises the administration of the rabies 26 vaccination to affix his or her signature stamp in 27 lieu of an actual signature on the rabies vaccination 28 certificate; reenacting s. 465.0276(5), F.S., relating 29 to a veterinarians ability to administer drugs to a 30 patient, to incorporate the amendment made to s. 31 474.202, F.S., in a reference thereto; providing an 32 effective date. 33 34 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 35 36 Section 1.This act may be cited as the Veterinary 37 Telemedicine Act. 38 Section 2.Subsection (8) of section 474.202, Florida 39 Statutes, is amended, and subsection (14) is added to that 40 section, to read: 41 474.202Definitions.As used in this chapter: 42 (8)Patient means any animal or herd, collection, or 43 group of animals for which the veterinarian practices veterinary 44 medicine. 45 (14)Veterinary telemedicine means the practice of 46 veterinary medicine with an established 47 veterinarian/client/patient relationship in a remote setting in 48 which patient care, treatment, and services are provided through 49 the use of telecommunications, including telephone and audio 50 visual technology. 51 Section 3.Section 474.2021, Florida Statutes, is created 52 to read: 53 474.2021Veterinary telemedicine. 54 (1)A veterinarian who holds a current license to practice 55 veterinary medicine in this state may practice veterinary 56 telemedicine. 57 (2)A veterinarian practicing veterinary telemedicine may 58 order, prescribe, or make available all of the following: 59 (a)Medicinal drugs or drugs as defined in chapter 465. 60 (b)Controlled substances in compliance with chapter 893 61 and the federal Controlled Substance Act. 62 (3)A veterinarian who practices veterinary telemedicine 63 may maintain the veterinarian/client/patient relationship 64 between medically necessary examinations of the patient or 65 timely medical visits to the premises where the patient is kept 66 for a time period determined by the Board of Veterinary 67 Medicine. 68 (4)A veterinarian with a veterinarian/client/patient 69 relationship may refer a specific patient to a veterinarian who 70 is a board-certified specialist, certified in an area of 71 practice recognized by the board, or recognized by the referring 72 veterinarian to have specific expertise in a particular area of 73 veterinary medicine. The veterinarian to whom the patient is 74 referred may practice veterinary telemedicine and consult 75 directly with the client under the referring veterinarians 76 veterinarian/client/patient relationship, provided he or she 77 keeps the referring veterinarian informed of any diagnosis, 78 treatment, or patient progress. Additionally, only the referring 79 veterinarian may prescribe medicinal drugs as defined in chapter 80 465 or controlled substances as defined in chapter 893. 81 (5)The practice of veterinary medicine is deemed to occur 82 when the veterinarian or the patient are located within this 83 state at the time the veterinarian practices veterinary 84 telemedicine. The board has jurisdiction over a veterinarian 85 practicing veterinary telemedicine in this state, regardless of 86 where the veterinarians physical office is located. 87 Section 4.Paragraph (a) of subsection (5) of section 88 474.203, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 89 474.203Exemptions.This chapter does not apply to: 90 (5)(a)Any person, or the persons regular employee, 91 administering to the ills or injuries of her or his own animals, 92 including, but not limited to, castration, spaying, and 93 dehorning of herd animals, unless title is transferred or 94 employment provided for the purpose of circumventing this law. 95 This exemption does not apply to any person licensed as a 96 veterinarian in another state or foreign jurisdiction and 97 practicing temporarily in this state. However, except as 98 provided in s. 828.30, only a veterinarian may immunize or treat 99 an animal for diseases that are communicable to humans and that 100 are of public health significance. 101 102 For the purposes of chapters 465 and 893, persons exempt 103 pursuant to subsection (1), subsection (2), or subsection (4) 104 are deemed to be duly licensed practitioners authorized by the 105 laws of this state to prescribe drugs or medicinal supplies. 106 Section 5.Paragraph (y) of subsection (1) of section 107 474.214, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 108 474.214Disciplinary proceedings. 109 (1)The following acts shall constitute grounds for which 110 the disciplinary actions in subsection (2) may be taken: 111 (y)Using the privilege of ordering, prescribing, or making 112 available medicinal drugs or drugs as defined in chapter 465, or 113 controlled substances as defined in chapter 893, for use other 114 than for the specific treatment of animal patients for which 115 there is a documented veterinarian/client/patient relationship. 116 Pursuant thereto, The veterinarian shall: 117 1.Have sufficient knowledge of the patient animal to 118 initiate at least a general or preliminary diagnosis of the 119 medical condition of the patient animal, which means that the 120 veterinarian is personally acquainted with the keeping and 121 caring of the patient animal and has recently performed an in 122 person examination of the patient seen the animal or has made 123 medically appropriate and timely visits to the premises where 124 the patient animal is kept. 125 2.Be available or provide for follow-up followup care and 126 treatment in case of adverse reactions or failure of the regimen 127 of therapy. 128 3.Maintain records that which document patient visits, 129 diagnosis, treatment, and other relevant information required 130 under this chapter. 131 Section 6.Subsections (1) and (3) of section 828.30, 132 Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 133 828.30Rabies vaccination of dogs, cats, and ferrets. 134 (1)(a)All dogs, cats, and ferrets 4 months of age or older 135 must be vaccinated by a licensed veterinarian or, in the case of 136 impounded animals, a person authorized under paragraph (b), 137 against rabies with a vaccine that is licensed by the United 138 States Department of Agriculture for use in those species. 139 (b)An employee, an agent, or a contractor of a county or 140 municipal animal control authority acting under the indirect 141 supervision of a licensed veterinarian may vaccinate impounded 142 dogs, cats, and ferrets that will be transferred, rescued, 143 fostered, adopted, or reclaimed by the owner. The supervising 144 veterinarian assumes responsibility for any person vaccinating 145 animals at the veterinarians direction or under his or her 146 supervision. As used in this paragraph, the term indirect 147 supervision means that the supervising veterinarian is required 148 to be available for consultation through telecommunications but 149 is not required to be physically present during such 150 consultation. 151 (c)The owner of every dog, cat, and ferret shall have the 152 animal revaccinated 12 months after the initial vaccination. 153 Thereafter, the interval between vaccinations shall conform to 154 the vaccine manufacturers directions. The cost of vaccination 155 must be borne by the animals owner. Evidence of circulating 156 rabies virus neutralizing antibodies may shall not be used as a 157 substitute for current vaccination in managing rabies exposure 158 or determining the need for booster vaccinations. 159 (3)Upon vaccination against rabies, the licensed 160 veterinarian shall provide the animals owner and the animal 161 control authority with a rabies vaccination certificate. Each 162 animal control authority and veterinarian shall use the Rabies 163 Vaccination Certificate of the National Association of State 164 Public Health Veterinarians (NASPHV) or an equivalent form 165 approved by the local government which that contains all the 166 information required by the NASPHV Rabies Vaccination 167 Certificate. The veterinarian who administers the rabies 168 vaccination, or who supervises the administration of the rabies 169 vaccination as provided in paragraph (1)(b), vaccine to an 170 animal as authorized required under this section may affix his 171 or her signature stamp in lieu of an actual signature. 172 Section 7.For the purpose of incorporating the amendment 173 made by this act to section 474.202, Florida Statutes, in a 174 reference thereto, subsection (5) of section 465.0276, Florida 175 Statutes, is reenacted to read: 176 465.0276Dispensing practitioner. 177 (5)This chapter and the rules adopted thereunder do not 178 prohibit a veterinarian licensed under chapter 474 from 179 administering a compounded drug to a patient, as defined in s. 180 474.202, or dispensing a compounded drug to the patients owner 181 or caretaker. This subsection does not affect the regulation of 182 the practice of pharmacy as set forth in this chapter. 183 Section 8.This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.