Connecticut General Statutes 20-596 – Ownership of pharmacies by prescribing practitioners
(a) No prescribing practitioner, spouse of a prescribing practitioner, except a spouse who is a pharmacist, or dependent child of a prescribing practitioner shall have an ownership or investment interest in a pharmacy.
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 20-596
- Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Consumer Protection. See Connecticut General Statutes 20-571
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
- Pharmacist: means an individual who is licensed to practice pharmacy under the provisions of §. See Connecticut General Statutes 20-571
- Pharmacy: means a place of business where drugs and devices may be sold at retail and for which a pharmacy license has been issued to an applicant under the provisions of §. See Connecticut General Statutes 20-571
- Prescribing practitioner: means an individual licensed by the state of Connecticut, any other state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States who is authorized to issue a prescription within the scope of the individual's practice. See Connecticut General Statutes 20-571
(b) The provisions of this section do not apply to a prescribing practitioner or spouse or dependent child of a prescribing practitioner (1) having an ownership or investment interest in a pharmacy prior to July 1, 1993, (2) who inherits an ownership or investment interest in a pharmacy, or (3) who is not required to maintain professional liability insurance pursuant to § 20-11b, provided (A) if the prescribing practitioner reinstates any such professional liability insurance, the prescribing practitioner shall, within thirty days of doing so, notify the Commissioner of Public Health of such reinstatement and divest any interest the prescribing practitioner may have in any pharmacy, or (B) if the interest is owned by the prescribing practitioner’s spouse or dependent child, the spouse or child shall divest such interest in any pharmacy. Failure of the prescribing practitioner or the prescribing practitioner’s spouse or dependent child to divest any such interest in a pharmacy within thirty days shall result in the prescribing practitioner’s license being suspended until such time as the prescribing practitioner or the prescribing practitioner’s spouse or dependent child divests such interest in the pharmacy.
(c) As used in this section, “ownership of investment interest” does not include ownership of investment securities by a prescribing practitioner, or the prescribing practitioner’s spouse or dependent children, in a publicly-held corporation that is traded on a national exchange or over-the-counter market, provided the investment securities held by the prescribing practitioner, the prescribing practitioner’s spouse and the prescribing practitioner’s dependent children, in the aggregate, do not exceed one-half of one per cent of the total number of shares issued by the corporation.