Florida SB 1382: Practice of Veterinary Medicine

Bill Text

1382 
Practice of Veterinary Medicine 
2026-01-07T11:24:18Z 
Revising the membership of the Board of Veterinary Medicine; specifying the services a veterinary technician or veterinary technologist must be licensed to perform, under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian; specifying that licensed veterinarians are responsible for all services performed by licensed veterinary technicians or veterinary technologists; specifying the services that only licensed veterinarians may perform or provide, etc. 
Original Filed Version 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
__ 

 Florida Senate - 2026 SB 1382 

 By Senator Martin 

 33-01486-26 20261382__ 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to the practice of veterinary 
 3 medicine; amending s. 474.201, F.S.; conforming 
 4 provisions to changes made by the act; amending s. 
 5 474.202, F.S.; defining terms; amending s. 474.204, 
 6 F.S.; revising the membership of the Board of 
 7 Veterinary Medicine; creating s. 474.223, F.S.; 
 8 requiring the board to adopt specified rules; 
 9 providing application criteria for the licensure of 
 10 veterinary technicians; specifying the services a 
 11 veterinary technician or veterinary technologist must 
 12 be licensed to perform, under the supervision of a 
 13 licensed veterinarian; requiring supervising 
 14 veterinarians to determine the appropriate level of 
 15 supervision in the performance of such services unless 
 16 otherwise provided for by board rule or general law, 
 17 according to specified conditions; specifying that 
 18 licensed veterinarians are responsible for all 
 19 services performed by licensed veterinary technicians 
 20 or veterinary technologists; specifying the services 
 21 that only licensed veterinarians may perform or 
 22 provide; authorizing a supervising veterinarian to 
 23 delegate to a licensed veterinary technician the 
 24 responsibility of supervising certain tasks performed 
 25 by unlicensed persons; prohibiting persons from making 
 26 specified representations; prohibiting veterinary 
 27 assistants from identifying themselves as veterinary 
 28 technicians or licensed veterinary technicians unless 
 29 certain conditions are met; providing a criminal 
 30 penalty; amending s. 828.30, F.S.; conforming 
 31 provisions to changes made by the act; providing an 
 32 effective date. 
 33 
 34 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 35 
 36 Section 1. Section 474.201, Florida Statutes, is amended to 
 37 read: 
 38 474.201 Purpose.—The Legislature finds that the practice of 
 39 veterinary medicine is potentially dangerous to the public 
 40 health and safety if conducted by incompetent and unlicensed 
 41 practitioners and veterinary technicians. The legislative 
 42 purpose in enacting this chapter is to ensure that every 
 43 veterinarian and licensed veterinary technician practicing in 
 44 this state meet minimum requirements for safe practice. It is 
 45 the legislative intent that veterinarians and licensed 
 46 veterinary technicians who are incompetent not normally 
 47 competent or who otherwise present a danger to the public shall 
 48 be disciplined or prohibited from practicing in this state. 
 49 Section 2. Present subsections (6) through (12), (13), and 
 50 (14) of section 474.202, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as 
 51 subsections (7) through (13), (15), and (19), respectively, and 
 52 new subsections (6) and (14) and subsections (16), (17), and 
 53 (18) are added to that section, to read: 
 54 474.202 Definitions.—As used in this chapter: 
 55 (6) “Licensed veterinary technician” means a person who 
 56 practices veterinary technology in this state and is licensed 
 57 under the authority of this chapter. 
 58 (14) “Veterinary assistant” means a person who practices on 
 59 a veterinary team providing medical care for animals and who is 
 60 not a licensed veterinary technician. 
 61 (16) “Veterinary technician” means a person who has 
 62 graduated with an associate degree from a veterinary technology 
 63 training program accredited by the American Veterinary Medical 
 64 Association Committee on Veterinary Technician Education and 
 65 Activities (CVTEA). 
 66 (17) “Veterinary technologist” means a person who has 
 67 graduated with a bachelor’s degree from a veterinary technology 
 68 training program accredited by the CVTEA. 
 69 (18) “Veterinary technology” means the science and art of 
 70 providing certain aspects of the medical care and treatment of 
 71 patients within an established veterinarian/client/patient 
 72 relationship by a veterinary technician or veterinary 
 73 technologist which are delegated and supervised by a 
 74 veterinarian. The term does not include diagnosis, surgery, or 
 75 the prescription of medications. 
 76 Section 3. Subsection (2) of section 474.204, Florida 
 77 Statutes, is amended to read: 
 78 474.204 Board of Veterinary Medicine.— 
 79 (2)(a) Five members of the board must sha