PHYSICIAN MAY
SELL MEDICATIONS TO PATIENTS PARK MEDICAL V. SAN DIEGO ORTHOPEDIC
In Park Medical Pharmacy v. San Diego
Orthopedic Associates Medical Group, Inc. (2002) 02 CDOS 5171, the
California Court of Appeal has held that a physician may sell drugs to his
or her patients for the condition for which the patient sought treatment
without violating Business and Professions Code section 4170(a)(3).
In Park Medical v. San Diego
Orthopedic, physicians in a medical group sold medications to their
worker’s compensation patients. A pharmacy in the same building sued the
group for unlawfully operating a retail pharmacy in violation of Business
and Professions Code section 4170(a)(3). Section 4170(a)(3) states that
physicians may not dispense drugs unless they are sold to their own
patients, the drugs are necessary to treat the patient for the condition
being seen by the physician, the physician does not keep a pharmacy open
to the public, and offers in writing to give a written prescription
instead.
The Court held that section 4170(a)(3)
was designed to prevent physicians from opening a pharmacy to the public
and did not prohibit physicians from selling drugs to their own patients.
The physicians in Park Medical gave their patients a form that informs the
patient that he or she has a choice between obtaining a prescription or
getting the drugs from the physician, and the group also kept the drugs in
a secure area as required by Business and Professions Code section 4172.
The Court noted that prior legislative
proposals to further limit the ability of physicians to sell drugs to
their patients were not enacted, and that the Medical Board, the Board of
Pharmacy, and the Attorney General had all issued opinions consistent with
the Court’s holding.
-June 2002
