Subd. 1. Prohibition.

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, it shall be unlawful for any person to have in possession, or to sell, give away, barter, exchange, or distribute a legend drug.

Subd. 2. Prescribing and filing.

1. (a) A licensed practitioner in the course of professional practice only, may prescribe, administer, and dispense a legend drug, and may cause the same to be administered by a nurse, a physician assistant, or medical student or resident under the practitioner's direction and supervision, and may cause a person who is an appropriately certified, registered, or licensed health care professional to prescribe, dispense, and administer the same within the expressed legal scope of the person's practice as defined in Minnesota Statutes. A licensed practitioner may prescribe a legend drug, without reference to a specific patient, by directing a nurse, pursuant to section 148.235, subdivisions 8 and 9, physician assistant, or medical student or resident to adhere to a particular practice guideline or protocol when treating patients whose condition falls within such guideline or protocol, and when such guideline or protocol specifies the circumstances under which the legend drug is to be prescribed and administered. An individual who verbally, electronically, or otherwise transmits a written, oral, or electronic order, as an agent of a prescriber, shall not be deemed to have prescribed the legend drug. This paragraph applies to a physician assistant only if the physician assistant meets the requirements of section 147A.18.
2. (b) A licensed practitioner that dispenses for profit a legend drug that is to be administered orally, is ordinarily dispensed by a pharmacist, and is not a vaccine, must file with the practitioner's licensing board a statement indicating that the practitioner dispenses legend drugs for profit, the general circumstances under which the practitioner dispenses for profit, and the types of legend drugs generally dispensed. It is unlawful to dispense legend drugs for profit after July 31, 1990, unless the statement has been filed with the appropriate licensing board. For purposes of this paragraph, "profit" means (1) any amount received by the practitioner in excess of the acquisition cost of a legend drug for legend drugs that are purchased in prepackaged form, or (2) any amount received by the practitioner in excess of the acquisition cost of a legend drug plus the cost of making the drug available if the legend drug requires compounding, packaging, or other treatment. The statement filed under this paragraph is public data under section 13.03. This paragraph does not apply to a licensed doctor of veterinary medicine or a registered pharmacist. Any person other than a licensed practitioner with the authority to prescribe, dispense, and administer a legend drug under paragraph (a) shall not dispense for profit. To dispense for profit does not include dispensing by a community health clinic when the profit from dispensing is used to meet operating expenses.

Subd. 2a. Delegation.

A supervising physician may delegate to a physician assistant who is registered with the Board of Medical Practice and certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants and who is under the supervising physician's supervision, the authority to prescribe, dispense, and administer legend drugs and medical devices, subject to the requirements in chapter 147A and other requirements established by the Board of Medical Practice in rules.

Subd. 3. Veterinarians.

A licensed doctor of veterinary medicine, in the course of professional practice only and not for use by a human being, may personally prescribe, administer, and dispense a legend drug, and may cause the same to be administered or dispensed by an assistant under the doctor's direction and supervision.

Subd. 4. Research.

Any qualified person may use legend drugs in the course of a bona fide research project, but cannot administer or dispense such drugs to human beings unless such drugs are prescribed, dispensed, and administered by a person lawfully authorized to do so.

Subd. 5. Exclusion for course of practice.

Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit the sale to, or the possession of, a legend drug by licensed drug wholesalers, licensed manufacturers, registered pharmacies, local detoxification centers, licensed hospitals, bona fide hospitals wherein animals are treated, or licensed pharmacists and licensed practitioners while acting within the course of their practice only.

Subd. 6. Exclusion for course of employment.

Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit the possession of a legend drug by an employee, agent, or sales representative of a registered drug manufacturer, or an employee or agent of a registered drug wholesaler, or registered pharmacy, while acting in the course of employment.

Subd. 7. Exclusion for prescriptions.

Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit the possession of a legend drug by a person for that person's use when it has been dispensed to the person in accordance with a written or oral prescription by a practitioner.

Subd. 8. Misrepresentation.

It is unlawful for a person to procure, attempt to procure, possess, or control a legend drug by any of the following means:

1. (1) deceit, misrepresentation, or subterfuge;
2. (2) using a false name; or
3. (3) falsely assuming the title of, or falsely representing a person to be a manufacturer, wholesaler, pharmacist, practitioner, or other authorized person for the purpose of obtaining a legend drug.

Subd. 9. Exclusion for course of laboratory employment.

Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit the possession of a legend drug by an employee or agent of a registered analytical laboratory while acting in the course of laboratory employment.

Subd. 10. Purchase of drugs for communicable diseases.

The commissioner of health, in carrying out the duties of section 144.05, may purchase and distribute antituberculosis drugs, biologics, and vaccines to treat and prevent communicable disease.

Subd. 11. Complaint reporting.

The Board of Pharmacy shall report on a quarterly basis to the Board of Optometry any complaints received regarding the prescription or administration of legend drugs under section 148.576.