{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-315.121","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 315.121","heading":"Grounds  for acting against licensee -- Notification to board of","body":"conviction required -- Petition for reinstatement -- Expungement.\n(1) The board may refuse to issue or renew a license, permit, or certificate to, or\nmay  suspend, temporarily suspend, revoke, fine, place on  probation,\nreprimand, reasonably restrict, or take any combination of these actions\nagainst any licensee, permit holder, or certificate holder for the following\nreasons:\n(a) Unprofessional or unethical conduct;\n(b) Mental or physical incapacity that prevents the licensee, permit holder, or\ncertificate holder from engaging or assisting in the practice of pharmacy\nor the wholesale distribution or manufacturing of drugs with reasonable\nskill, competence, and safety to the public;\n(c) Being convicted of, or entering an \"Alford\" plea or plea of nolo contendere\nto, irrespective of an order granting probation or suspending imposition of\nany sentence imposed following the conviction or entry of such plea, one\n(1) or more or the following, if in accordance with KRS Chapter 335B:\n1. A crime as defined in KRS 335B.010; or\n2. A  violation of the pharmacy or drug laws, rules, or administrative\nregulations of this state, any other state, or the federal government;\n(d) Knowing  or having reason to know that a pharmacist, pharmacist intern,\nor pharmacy  technician is incapable of engaging or assisting in the\npractice of pharmacy with reasonable skill, competence, and safety to the\npublic and failing to report any relevant information to the board;\n(e) Knowingly making or causing to be made any false, fraudulent, or forged\nstatement or misrepresentation of a material fact in securing issuance or\nrenewal of a license, permit, or certificate;\n(f) Engaging  in fraud in connection with the practice of pharmacy or the\nwholesale distribution or manufacturing of drugs;\n(g) Engaging in or aiding and abetting an individual to engage or assist in the\npractice of pharmacy  without a license or falsely using the title of\n\"pharmacist,\" \"pharmacist intern,\" \"pharmacy technician,\" or other term\nwhich might imply that the individual is a pharmacist, pharmacist intern, or\npharmacy technician;\n(h) Being found by the board to be in violation of any provision of this\nchapter, KRS  Chapter 217, KRS  Chapter 218A, or the administrative\nregulations promulgated pursuant to these chapters;\n(i) Violation of any order issued by the board to comply with any applicable\nlaw or administrative regulation;\n(j) Knowing  or having reason to know that a pharmacist, pharmacist intern,\nor pharmacy technician has engaged in or aided and abetted the unlawful\ndistribution of legend medications, and failing to report any relevant\ninformation to the board;\n(k) Failure to notify the board within fourteen (14) days of a change in one's\nhome  address; or\n(l) As  provided in KRS  311.824(2), being convicted of a violation of KRS\n311.823(2).\n(2) Unprofessional or unethical conduct includes but is not limited to the following\nacts of a pharmacist, pharmacist intern, or pharmacy technician:\n(a) Publication or circulation of false, misleading, or deceptive statements\nconcerning the practice of pharmacy;\n(b) Divulging or revealing to unauthorized persons patient information or the\nnature of professional services rendered without the patient's express\nconsent or without order or direction of a court. In addition to members,\ninspectors, or agents of the board, the following are considered\nauthorized persons:\n1. The patient, patient's agent, or another pharmacist acting on behalf\nof the patient;\n2. Certified or licensed health-care personnel who are responsible for\ncare of the patient;\n3. Designated agents of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services for\nthe purposes of enforcing the provisions of KRS Chapter 218A;\n4. Any federal, state, or municipal officer whose duty is to enforce the\nlaws of this state or the United States relating to drugs and who is\nengaged in a specific investigation involving a designated person; or\n5. An  agency  of government  charged with the responsibility of\nproviding medical care for the patient, upon written request by an\nauthorized  representative of  the  agency  requesting such\ninformation;\n(c) Selling, transferring, or otherwise disposing of accessories, chemicals,\ndrugs, or devices found in illegal traffic when the pharmacist, pharmacy\nintern, or pharmacy  technician knows  or should have known  of their\nintended use in illegal activities;\n(d) Engaging  in conduct likely to deceive, defraud, or harm  the public,\ndemonstrating a willful or careless disregard for the health, welfare, or\nsafety of a patient, or engaging in conduct which substantially departs\nfrom accepted standards of pharmacy practice ordinarily exercised by a\npharmacist or pharmacy intern, with or without established proof of actual\ninjury;\n(e) Engaging  in grossly negligent professional conduct, with or without\nestablished proof of actual injury;\n(f) Except as provided in KRS  315.500, selling, transferring, dispensing,\ningesting, or administering a drug for which a prescription drug order is\nrequired, without having first received a prescription drug order for the\ndrug;\n(g) Willfully or knowingly failing to maintain complete and accurate records of\nall drugs received, dispensed, or disposed of in compliance with federal\nand state laws, rules, or administrative regulations;\n(h) Obtaining any remuneration by fraud, misrepresentation, or deception;\n(i) Accessing or attempting to access confidential patient information for\npersons  other than those with whom  a pharmacist has  a current\npharmacist-patient relationship and where such information is necessary\nto the pharmacist to provide pharmacy care;\n(j) Failing to exercise appropriate professional judgment in determining\nwhether a prescription drug order is lawful;\n(k) Violating KRS 304.39-215; or\n(l) Engaging  in conduct that is subject to the penalties under KRS\n304.99-060(4) or (5).\n(3) Any  licensee, permit holder, or certificate holder entering an \"Alford\" plea,\npleading nolo contendere, or who is found guilty of a violation prescribed in\nsubsection (1)(c) of this section shall within thirty (30) days notify the board of\nthat plea or conviction. Failure to do so shall be grounds for suspension or\nrevocation of the license, certificate, or permit.\n(4) Any  person whose  license, permit, or certificate has  been  revoked in\naccordance with the provisions of this section, may  petition the board for\nreinstatement. The petition shall be made in writing and in a form prescribed by\nthe board. The board shall investigate all reinstatement petitions, and the board\nmay  reinstate a license, permit, or certificate upon showing that the former\nholder has been rehabilitated and is again able to engage in the practice of\npharmacy  with reasonable skill, competency, and  safety to the public.\nReinstatement may be on the terms and conditions that the board, based on\ncompetent evidence, reasonably believes necessary to protect the health and\nwelfare of the citizens of the Commonwealth.\n(5) Upon  exercising the power of revocation provided for in subsection (1) of this\nsection, the board may reasonably prohibit any petition for reinstatement for a\nperiod up to and including five (5) years.\n(6) Any  licensee, permit holder, or certificate holder who is disciplined under this\nsection for a minor violation may request in writing that the board expunge the\nminor violation from the licensee's, permit holder's, or certificate holder's\npermanent record.\n(a) The request for expungement may be filed no sooner than three (3) years\nafter the date on which the licensee, permit holder, or certificate holder\nhas completed disciplinary sanctions imposed and if the licensee, permit\nholder, or certificate holder has not been disciplined for any subsequent\nviolation of the same nature within this period of time.\n(b) No  person may have his or her record expunged under this section more\nthan once.\nThe board shall promulgate administrative regulations under KRS  Chapter 13A\nto establish violations which are minor violations under this subsection. A\nviolation shall be deemed  a minor violation if it does not demonstrate a serious\ninability to practice the profession; assist in the practice of pharmacy; provide\nhome  medical equipment and services; adversely affect the public health,\nsafety, or welfare; or result in economic or physical harm to a person; or create\na significant threat of such harm.","path":["KRS Chapter 315"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=50613","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:58:11Z","sha256":"55bcfe122a828c1099b00d74b9a3b8f6c55bc33235b7cc2823699cc10b9fb0d3","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-315.120","next":"us-ky/krs-315.123"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}