338.353. Discipline of licensee, grounds--procedure--administrative hearing commission to conduct hearing.

MISSOURI STATUTES AND CODES

338.353. Discipline of licensee, grounds--procedure--administrative hearing commission to conduct hearing.

Discipline of licensee, grounds--procedure--administrative hearingcommission to conduct hearing.

338.353. 1. The board of pharmacy is hereby authorized andempowered, when complaints, examinations or inspection of a wholesale drugdistributor or pharmacy distributor disclose to the board that a wholesaledrug distributorship or pharmacy distributorship is not being operated orconducted according to such legal rules and regulations and the laws ofMissouri or any other state or the federal government with respect thereto,to cause a complaint to be filed before the administrative hearingcommission pursuant to chapter 621, RSMo, charging the holder of a licenseto operate a drug distributorship or pharmacy wholesale operationconstituting grounds for discipline in accordance with section 338.055.

2. If the board concludes that a wholesale drug distributor orpharmacy distributor has committed an act or is engaging in a course ofconduct which constitutes a clear and present danger to the public healthand safety in Missouri, the board may file a complaint before theadministrative hearing commission requesting an expedited hearing andspecifying the activities which give rise to the danger and the nature ofthe proposed restriction or suspension of the wholesale drug distributor'sor pharmacy distributor's license. Within fifteen days after service ofthe complaint on a wholesale drug distributor or pharmacy distributor, theadministrative hearing commission shall conduct a preliminary hearing todetermine whether the alleged activities of the wholesale drug distributoror pharmacy distributor appear to constitute a clear and present danger tothe public health and safety which justify that the wholesale drugdistributor's or pharmacy distributor's license be immediately restrictedor suspended. The burden of proving that a wholesale drug distributor orpharmacy distributor is a clear and present danger to the public health andsafety shall be upon the state board of pharmacy. The administrativehearing commission shall issue its decision immediately after the hearingand shall either grant to the board the authority to suspend or restrictthe license or dismiss the action.

3. If the administrative hearing commission grants temporaryauthority to the board to restrict or suspend the wholesale drugdistributor's or pharmacy distributor's license, such temporary authorityof the board shall become final authority if there is no request by thewholesale drug distributor or pharmacy distributor for a full hearingwithin thirty days of the preliminary hearing. The administrative hearingcommission shall, if requested by the wholesale drug distributor orpharmacy distributor named in the complaint, set a date to hold a fullhearing under the provisions of chapter 621, RSMo, regarding the activitiesalleged in the initial complaint filed by the board.

4. If the administrative hearing commission dismisses the actionfiled by the board pursuant to subsection 2 of this section, such dismissalshall not bar the board from initiating a subsequent action on the samegrounds.