1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to health occupations; permitting an 
  1.3             additional pharmacy technician in a pharmacy if the 
  1.4             technician is nationally certified; amending Minnesota 
  1.5             Statutes 1999 Supplement, section 151.102, subdivision 
  1.6             1. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1999 Supplement, section 
  1.9   151.102, subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.10     Subdivision 1.  [GENERAL.] A pharmacy technician may assist 
  1.11  a pharmacist in the practice of pharmacy by performing 
  1.12  nonjudgmental tasks and works under the personal and direct 
  1.13  supervision of the pharmacist.  A pharmacist may supervise two 
  1.14  technicians, as long as the pharmacist assumes responsibility 
  1.15  for all the functions performed by the technicians.  A pharmacy 
  1.16  may exceed the ratio of pharmacy technicians to pharmacists 
  1.17  permitted in this subdivision or in rule by a total of one 
  1.18  technician at any given time in the pharmacy, provided at least 
  1.19  one technician in the pharmacy holds a valid certification from 
  1.20  the pharmacy technician certification board or from another 
  1.21  national certification body for pharmacy technicians that 
  1.22  requires passage of a nationally recognized, psychometrically 
  1.23  valid certification examination for certification as determined 
  1.24  by the board of pharmacy.  The board of pharmacy may, by rule, 
  1.25  set ratios of technicians to pharmacists greater than two to one 
  1.26  for the functions specified in rule.  The delegation of any 
  2.1   duties, tasks, or functions by a pharmacist to a pharmacy 
  2.2   technician is subject to continuing review and becomes the 
  2.3   professional and personal responsibility of the pharmacist who 
  2.4   directed the pharmacy technician to perform the duty, task, or 
  2.5   function.