Injectable Drug Bill Introduced in Florida

Chiropractic in the state of Florida is in the news once again as a new Bill SB 1078 has been introduced in the Florida legislature to add legend drugs to the scope of practice including by injection. The Bill was introduced by Senator Brandes.

CLICK HERE for the Bill

Coming on the heels of the announcement that Keiser College of Chiropractic MEDICINE has gained initial accreditation by the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE), the bill is thought to have been submitted by the Florida Chiropractic Physicians Association (FCPA) with help (or at least no resistance) from the Florida Chiropractic Association (FCA).

The bill is understandably deceptive in the language used including no use of any words derived from "inject". Instead the bill uses the word "ADMINISTER" which takes care of any route of entry into the body.

The Bill also uses the term "natural origin" as an umbrella term for the types of substances allowed to be prescribed and injected.

Despite the efforts of hiding the actual intention of the Bill the fact remains that the US Food and Drug Administration, (FDA), has made it clear that nutritional supplements become LEGEND DRUGS when they are manufactured, packaged, and sold for administration via the route of injection or IV. Florida law prohibits the prescription and administration of legend drugs by chiropractors.

Section 411 C1 (B)(i) of the FDA law makes it clear that ingestion means oral intake only.

While the FCPA and the FCA will certainly defend this move based on using substances of "natural origin", anyone with the ability to think critically will see that its merely a step in the direction of adding full prescriptive authority to the practice of chiropractic in Florida. Both the FCPA and the FCA have made it clear by their history that they support the inclusion of drugs into the practice of chiropractic.

The Florida Board of Chiropractic Medicine has also signaled over the past few years that it would support such a change in scope by its refusal to support efforts at removing terms such as "physician", "medicine" and CCE Only language from the statute.

It remains to be seen how supporters of the Bill to allow chiropractors to prescribe and inject drugs will deal with the FDA law. Most likely they are simply hoping no one notices.