1. A person shall not dispense prescription drugs unless that person is a licensed pharmacist or is authorized by section 147.107 to dispense or distribute prescription drugs.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 155A.4

  • Administer: means the direct application of a prescription drug, whether by injection, inhalation, ingestion, or any other means, to the body of a patient or research subject by one of the following:
     a. See Iowa Code 155A.3
  • Board: means the board of pharmacy. See Iowa Code 155A.3
  • Dispense: means to deliver a prescription drug, device, or controlled substance to an ultimate user or research subject by or pursuant to the lawful prescription drug order or medication order of a practitioner, including the prescribing, administering, packaging, labeling, or compounding necessary to prepare the substance for that delivery. See Iowa Code 155A.3
  • Distribute: means the delivery of a prescription drug or device. See Iowa Code 155A.3
  • drug: means a drug, as classified by the United States food and drug administration, that is required by the United States food and drug administration to be prescribed or administered to a patient by a practitioner prior to dispensation. See Iowa Code 155A.3
  • Limited distributor: means a person operating or maintaining a location, regardless of the location, where prescription drugs or devices are distributed at wholesale or to a patient pursuant to a prescription drug order, who is not eligible for a wholesale distributor license or pharmacy license. See Iowa Code 155A.3
  • Person: means a natural person. See Iowa Code 154A.1
  • Pharmacist: means a person licensed by the board to practice pharmacy. See Iowa Code 155A.3
  • Pharmacy: means a location where prescription drugs are compounded, dispensed, or sold by a pharmacist and where prescription drug orders are received or processed in accordance with the pharmacy laws. See Iowa Code 155A.3
  • Practitioner: means a physician, dentist, podiatric physician, prescribing psychologist, veterinarian, optometrist, physician assistant, advanced registered nurse practitioner, or other person licensed or registered to prescribe, distribute, or dispense a prescription drug or device in the course of professional practice in this state or a person licensed by another state in a health field in which, under Iowa law, licensees in this state may legally prescribe drugs. See Iowa Code 155A.3
  • sell: means a transfer of title or of the right to use by lease, bailment, or any other means, but excludes a wholesale transaction with a distributor or hearing aid specialist, and excludes the temporary, charitable loan or educational loan of a hearing aid without remuneration. See Iowa Code 154A.1
  • State: means a state, territory, or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See Iowa Code 152E.3
  • Third-party logistics provider: means an entity that provides or coordinates warehousing or other logistics services of a product in interstate commerce on behalf of a manufacturer, wholesale distributor, or dispenser of a product, but does not take ownership of the product nor have responsibility to direct the sale or other disposition of the product. See Iowa Code 155A.3
  • Wholesale distributor: means a person, other than a manufacturer, a manufacturer's co-licensed partner, a third-party logistics provider, or repackager, engaged in the wholesale distribution of a drug. See Iowa Code 155A.3
 2. Notwithstanding subsection 1, it is not unlawful for:

 a. A limited distributor, third-party logistics provider, or wholesale distributor to distribute prescription drugs or devices as provided by state or federal law.
 b. A practitioner, licensed by the appropriate state board, to dispense prescription drugs to patients as incident to the practice of the profession, except with respect to the operation of a pharmacy for the retailing of prescription drugs.
 c. A practitioner, licensed by the appropriate state board, to administer drugs to patients. This chapter does not prevent a practitioner from delegating the administration of a prescription drug to a nurse, intern, or other qualified individual or, in the case of a veterinarian, to an orderly or assistant, under the practitioner’s direction and supervision.
 d. A person to sell at retail a proprietary medicine, an insecticide, a fungicide, or a chemical used in the arts, if properly labeled.
 e. A person to procure prescription drugs for lawful research, teaching, or testing and not for resale.
 f. A pharmacy to distribute a prescription drug to another pharmacy or to a practitioner.
 g. A qualified individual authorized to administer prescription drugs and employed by a home health agency or hospice to obtain, possess, and transport emergency prescription drugs as provided by state or federal law or by rules of the board.
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