South Carolina S 378: Pharmacists

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 378 Text of Previous Version (Feb. 25, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 378

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING SECTION 
40-43-35 SO AS TO PROVIDE REQUIREMENTS FOR DETERMINING IF ACTS ARE WITHIN THE 
SCOPE OF PHARMACY PRACTICE OR ARE DELEGABLE UNDER SUPERVISION OF A LICENSED PHARMACIST; 
BY AMENDING SECTION 40-43-30, RELATING TO DEFINITIONS IN THE SOUTH CAROLINA 
PHARMACY PRACTICE ACT, SO AS TO INCLUDE THE PRESCRIBING OF DRUGS, DRUG 
CATEGORIES, AND DEVICES IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES, AMONG OTHER THINGS; AND BY 
AMENDING SECTION 40-43-86, RELATING TO UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT OF PERSONS OR 
FACILITIES LICENSED OR PERMITTED BY THE BOARD OF PHARMACY, SO AS TO INCLUDE 
ACTS OR OMISSIONS WITHIN THE PRACTICE OF PHARMACY THAT FAIL TO MEET THE 
STANDARD PROVIDED BY OTHER QUALIFIED LICENSEES OR REGISTRANTS IN THE SAME OR 
SIMILAR SETTING.

Be it enacted by the 
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Chapter 43, Title 40 of the S.C. Code is amended by 
adding:

 Section 
40-43-35. To determine whether a specific act is within 
the scope of pharmacy practice in or into the state, or if an act can be 
delegated to other individuals under a licensee's supervision, the licensee 
must independently determine if the act is:

 (1) 
expressly prohibited by:

 (a) 
this chapter; or

 (b) 
any applicable state or federal laws;

 (2) 
consistent with the licensee's education, training, and experience; and

 (3) 
within the accepted standard of care that would be provided in a similar 
setting by a reasonable and prudent licensee with similar education, training, 
and experience.

SECTION 2. Section 40-43-30(50) of the S.C. Code is amended to 
read:

 (50) "Practice of pharmacy" means the:

 (a) 
interpretation, evaluation, and dispensing of prescription drug orders in the 
patient's best interest;

 (b) 
participation in drug and device selection, drug administration, prospective 
drug reviews, and drug or drug-related research;

 (c) 
provision of patient counseling and the provision of those acts or services 
necessary to provide pharmacy care and drug therapy management;

 (d) 
responsibility for compounding and labeling of drugs and devices, (except 
labeling by a manufacturer, repackager, or distributor or nonprescription drugs 
and commercially packaged legend drugs and devices) proper and safe storage of 
drugs and devices and maintenance of proper records for them;

 (e) 
initiation, ordering, and administration of flu and COVIDlaboratory tests. Pharmacists may delegate the task of 
administering tests provided for in this subsection to a trained pharmacy 
technician or pharmacy intern, but the pharmacist must perform any 
interpretation of the results;

 (f) 
reporting of a person's flu or COVIDlaboratory test results and the referral of that patient 
for follow-up care to the health care provider identified by the patient or if 
none is identified, to an appropriate health care provider; or

 (g) 
the offering or performing of those acts, services, operations, or transactions 
necessary in the conduct, operation, education, management, and control of 
pharmacy.

 (h) the prescribing of drugs, drug 
categories, and devices that are limited to conditions that:

 (i) do not require a new diagnosis;

 (ii) are minor and generally 
self-limiting;

 (iii) have a test that is used to 
guide diagnosis or clinical decision-making and are waived under the federal 
Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988; or

 (iv) in the professional judgment of 
the pharmacist, are patient emergencies.

SECTION 3. Section 40-43-86(DD) of the S.C. Code is amended to 
read:

 (DD) Unprofessional conduct includes, 
but is not limited to, the following acts by a pharmacist, permit holder, 
pharmacy technician, or the owner of a permitted facility:

 (1) 
publishing or circulating false, misleading, or otherwise deceptive statements 
concerning the practice of pharmacy;

 (2) 
attempting to circumvent the patient counseling requirements, or discouraging 
the patient from receiving patient counseling concerning their prescription 
drug orders;

 (3) 
divulging or revealing to unauthorized persons patient information or the 
nature of professional pharmacy services rendered without the patient's express 
consent, or without order or direction of a court. Authorized persons include:

 (a) 
a patient, or patient's agent, or another pharmacist acting on behalf of a 
patient;

 (b) 
the practitioner who issued the prescription drug order;

 (c) 
certified/licensed health care personnel who are responsible for the care of 
the patient;

 (d) 
an inspector, agent, or investigator of the Board of Pharmacy or any federal, 
state, county, or municipal officer whose duty is t