Minnesota Board of Pharmacy - Minnesota State Legislature

Pharmacy Education. Thus, while the precise impact of the Board is difficult to assess, it is a
reasonable to assume that, by actively promoting the above-mentioned standards, the Board is having a
positive impact on the public health.
Identification of activities of the agency that are in addition to those granted by statute, the authority for
those activities and the extent to which those activities are needed
Board staff members are frequently consulted by other state agencies about drug-related issues. For
example, during the past several years, the Board’s Executive Director has been a member of task
forces established by the Minnesota Department of Health that dealt with pandemic influenza,
electronic prescribing, diversion of controlled substances by health care professionals, the abuse of
prescription drugs and health care workforce shortages. The Board and its staff members have worked
with or been consulted by the Office of the Attorney General, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension,
the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the State Department of Veteran’s Affairs, the Department of
Revenue, the Department of Human Services, the Department of Health, the Department of Corrections
and the other health licensing boards. The Board has also worked with federal agencies, including the
Drug Enforcement Administration and the Food and Drug Administration. The Board has worked with
local officials, including: county public health officials, prosecutors and sheriffs; city mayors,
administrators and police chiefs; and a few school district administrators. The Board believes that the
other state agencies that have requested assistance and advice have been acting within their statutory
authority. Also, while Minnesota Statutes §151.06 doesn’t specifically empower or direct the Board to
provide consultation to these other agencies, the Board assumes that the Legislature would want state
agencies to share expertise with one another. Other than providing such assistance and advice, the
Board does not engage in any activities that are not specifically permitted per the Statutes.
Authority of the agency relating to fees, inspections, enforcements and penalties
Minnesota Statutes §16A.1283 prohibits a state agency from imposing a new fee or increasing an
existing fee unless the new fee or increase is approved by law. Consequently, the Board must seek
legislative and gubernatorial approval for any proposed changes in fees.
In regards to inspections, Minnesota Statutes §151.06 empowers the Board to:
“enter and inspect by its authorized representative any and all places where drugs, medicines,
medical gases, or veterinary drugs or devices are sold, vended, given away, compounded,
dispensed, manufactured, wholesaled, or held; it may secure samples or specimens of any
drugs, medicines, medical gases, or veterinary drugs or devices after paying or offering to pay
for such sample; it shall be entitled to inspect and make copies of any and all records of
shipment, purchase, manufacture, quality control, and sale of these items provided, however,
that such inspection shall not extend to financial data, sales data, or pricing data”
This power is limited in certain circumstances by Minnesota Statutes §151.26, which states, in part:
“Nothing in this chapter shall subject a person duly licensed in this state to practice medicine,
dentistry, or veterinary medicine, to inspection by the State Board of Pharmacy, nor prevent the
person from administering drugs, medicines, chemicals, or poisons in the person's practice, nor
prevent a duly licensed practitioner from furnishing to a patient properly packaged and labeled
drugs, medicines, chemicals, or poisons as may be considered appropriate in the treatment of
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