HB 479

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to animal control; amending s.
3	828.055, F.S.; requiring that the Board of Pharmacy
4	adopt rules relating to the issuance of permits
5	authorizing the purchase, possession, and use of
6	certain controlled substances and legend drugs
7	necessary for the euthanasia and chemical
8	immobilization of animals; authorizing the Board of
9	Pharmacy, at the request of the Board of Veterinary
10	Medicine, to adopt a rule to increase the number of
11	controlled substances and legend drugs available to
12	euthanize injured, sick, or abandoned domestic animals
13	or to chemically immobilize such animals; providing
14	that only certain persons are authorized to possess
15	and use such drugs while operating in the scope of
16	their employment or official duties; amending s.
17	828.058, F.S.; restricting the use of intracardial
18	injection to an unconscious animal; prohibiting the
19	delivery of a lethal solution or powder by adding it
20	to food; amending s. 381.0031, F.S.; requiring that an
21	animal control officer, a wildlife officer, and an
22	animal disease diagnostic laboratory report knowledge
23	of any animal bite, any diagnosis or suspicion of a
24	grouping or clustering of animals having similar
25	disease, or any symptom or syndrome that may indicate
26	the presence of a threat to humans; providing an
27	effective date.
28
29	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
30
31	Section 1.  Section 828.055, Florida Statutes, is amended
32	to read:
33	828.055  Controlled substances and legend drugs Sodium
34	pentobarbital; permits for use in euthanasia of domestic
35	animals.-
36	(1)  The Board of Pharmacy shall adopt rules providing for
37	the issuance of permits authorizing the purchase, possession,
38	and use of controlled substances and legend drugs, including of
39	sodium pentobarbital and sodium pentobarbital with lidocaine
40	tiletamine hydrochloride, alone or combined with zolazepam
41	(including Telazol), xylazine (including Rompun), ketamine,
42	acepromazine maleate (also acetylpromazine, and including
43	Atravet or Acezine 2), alone or combined with etorphine
44	(including Imobilon), yohimbine hydrochloride, alone or combined
45	with atipamezole (including Antisedan), by county or municipal
46	animal control agencies or humane societies registered with the
47	Secretary of State for the purpose of euthanizing injured, sick,
48	or abandoned domestic animals that which are in their lawful
49	possession or for the purpose of chemically immobilizing the
50	animals. The rules shall set forth guidelines for the proper
51	storage and handling of these drugs sodium pentobarbital and
52	sodium pentobarbital with lidocaine and such other provisions as
53	may be necessary to ensure that the drugs are used solely for
54	the purpose set forth in this section. The rules shall also
55	provide for an application fee not to exceed $50 and a biennial
56	renewal fee not to exceed $50. At the request and recommendation
57	of the Board of Veterinary Medicine, the Board of Pharmacy may
58	adopt a rule to increase the number of controlled substances and
59	legend drugs available to euthanize injured, sick, or abandoned
60	domestic animals or to chemically immobilize such animals upon a
61	finding that such additions are necessary for the humane and
62	lawful treatment of those animals.
63	(2)  Any county or municipal animal control agency or any
64	humane society registered with the Secretary of State may apply
65	to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation for a
66	permit to purchase, possess, and use these drugs sodium
67	pentobarbital or sodium pentobarbital with lidocaine pursuant to
68	subsection (1). Upon certification by the board that the
69	applicant meets the qualifications set forth in the rules, the
70	department shall issue the permit. The possession and use of
71	these drugs is limited to those employees or agents of the
72	permittee certified in accordance with s. 828.058 or s. 828.27
73	while operating in the scope of their employment or official
74	duties with the permittee.
75	(3)  The board may revoke or suspend the permit upon a
76	determination that the permittee is using any of these drugs
77	sodium pentobarbital or sodium pentobarbital with lidocaine for
78	any purpose other than that set forth in this section or if the
79	permittee fails to follow the rules of the board regarding
80	proper storage and handling.
81	Section 2.  Subsection (1) of section 828.058, Florida
82	Statutes, is amended to read:
83	828.058  Euthanasia of dogs and cats.-
84	(1)  Sodium pentobarbital, a sodium pentobarbital
85	derivative, or other agent that the Board of Veterinary Medicine
86	may approve by rule shall be the only methods used for
87	euthanasia of dogs and cats by public or private agencies,
88	animal shelters, or other facilities that operate which are
89	operated for the collection and care of stray, neglected,
90	abandoned, or unwanted animals. A lethal solution shall be used
91	in the following order of preference:
92	(a)  Intravenous injection by hypodermic needle;
93	(b)  Intraperitoneal injection by hypodermic needle; or
94	(c)  If the dog or cat is unconscious with no corneal
95	reflex, intracardial injection by hypodermic needle.; or
96	(d)  Solution or powder added to food.
97	Section 3.  Section 381.0031, Florida Statutes, is amended
98	to read:
99	381.0031  Public health surveillance and investigation
100	Report of diseases of public health significance to department.-
101	(1)  Any practitioner licensed in this state to practice
102	medicine, osteopathic medicine, chiropractic medicine,
103	naturopathy, or veterinary medicine; any hospital licensed under
104	part I of chapter 395; or any laboratory licensed under chapter
105	483 which that diagnoses or suspects the existence of a disease
106	of public health significance shall immediately report the fact
107	to the Department of Health.
108	(2)  Periodically the department shall issue a list of
109	infectious or noninfectious diseases that the department
110	determines determined by it to be a threat to public health and
111	therefore of significance to public health and shall furnish a
112	copy of the list to the practitioners listed in subsection (1).
113	(3)  Reports required by this section must be in accordance
114	with methods specified by rule of the department.
115	(4)  Information submitted in reports required by this
116	section is confidential, exempt from the provisions of s.
117	119.07(1), and is to be made public only when necessary to
118	public health. A report so submitted is not a violation of the
119	confidential relationship between practitioner and patient.
120	(5)  The department may obtain and inspect copies of
121	medical records, records of laboratory tests, and other medical-
122	related information for reported cases of diseases of public
123	health significance described in subsection (2). The department
124	shall examine the records of a person who has a disease of
125	public health significance only for purposes of preventing and
126	eliminating outbreaks of disease and making epidemiological
127	investigations of reported cases of diseases of public health
128	significance, notwithstanding any other law to the contrary.
129	Health care practitioners, licensed health care facilities, and
130	laboratories shall allow the department to inspect and obtain
131	copies of such medical records and medical-related information,
132	notwithstanding any other law to the contrary. Release of
133	medical records and medical-related information to the
134	department by a health care practitioner, licensed health care
135	facility, or laboratory, or by an authorized employee or agent
136	thereof, does not constitute a violation of the confidentiality
137	of patient records. A health care practitioner, health care
138	facility, or laboratory, or any employee or agent thereof, may
139	not be held liable in any manner for damages and is not subject
140	to criminal penalties for providing patient records to the
141	department as authorized by this section.
142	(6)  An animal control officer operating under s. 828.27, a
143	wildlife officer operating under s. 379.3311, and an animal
144	disease diagnostic laboratory operating under s. 585.61 shall
145	report knowledge of any animal bite, any diagnosis or suspicion
146	of a grouping or clustering of animals having similar disease,
147	or any symptom or syndrome that may indicate the presence of a
148	threat to humans.
149	(7)(6)  The department may adopt rules related to reporting
150	diseases of significance to public health, which must specify
151	the information to be included in the report, who is required to
152	report, the method and time period for reporting, requirements
153	for enforcement, and required followup activities by the
154	department which are necessary to protect public health.
155
156	This section does not affect s. 384.25.
157	Section 4.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2012.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.