Florida has finalized legislation related to pain clinics, medical offices that treat patients in need of pain medication and medical offices that advertise pain treatments, according to a South Florida Sun-Sentinel news report.
Some of the key points in Florida's pain clinic law include:
• Pain clinics must be owned by a physician or licensed by the state. Operating an illegal clinic is a third-degree felony.
• The state will inspect all pain clinics starting this month.
• Clinics cannot sell more than three days of pain medication to a patient paying with cash or credit. If a patient needs the remainder of a longer spanning prescription, he or she can fill it at a pharmacy.
• Physicians must examine patients the same day a prescription is written for pain medication.
• Only board-certified or specially trained pain management physicians can practice in pain clinics after July 1, 2012.
Read the South Florida Sun-Sentinel news report about Florida's pain clinic law.
Read other coverage about Florida pain clinics:
- Final Rule Proposed for Prescribing Controlled Substances in Florida Pain Clinics
- Florida Board of Medicine Comes Down Hard on Pain Physicians Guilty of Fraud
Some of the key points in Florida's pain clinic law include:
• Pain clinics must be owned by a physician or licensed by the state. Operating an illegal clinic is a third-degree felony.
• The state will inspect all pain clinics starting this month.
• Clinics cannot sell more than three days of pain medication to a patient paying with cash or credit. If a patient needs the remainder of a longer spanning prescription, he or she can fill it at a pharmacy.
• Physicians must examine patients the same day a prescription is written for pain medication.
• Only board-certified or specially trained pain management physicians can practice in pain clinics after July 1, 2012.
Read the South Florida Sun-Sentinel news report about Florida's pain clinic law.
Read other coverage about Florida pain clinics:
- Final Rule Proposed for Prescribing Controlled Substances in Florida Pain Clinics
- Florida Board of Medicine Comes Down Hard on Pain Physicians Guilty of Fraud