NON-PHARMACIST DISPENSER REGISTRATION
Dispensing Physician Eligibility
A physician who dispenses prescription drugs, for a fee or other charge, must register with the Board as a dispensing physician each year. Dispensing physicians must comply in all respects with the laws and rules that govern the practice of pharmacy, including drug utilization review, patient counseling, appropriate packaging, labeling, and record keeping. https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/BySection/Chapter_90/GS_90-85.21.pdf GS 90-85.21(b).
More information about compliance with the law governing dispensing physicians is found here.
Dispensing Physician Instructions / Information
Step 1:
Navigate to the Board's Licensure Gateway and create a profile by clicking REGISTER NOW. Make sure you save your username and password. You will need them for all registration processes. Follow this link for a video tutorial (“How to Create a Profile”) that reviews the profile creation process in detail.
Step 2:
Log into your profile on the Board's Licensure Gateway and submit the Dispensing Physician Registration application. There is a $75 NON-REFUNDABLE/NON-TRANSFERABLE application fee.
As part of the application process, you will be required to upload a dispensing label. The label that is uploaded must be an example of the label that will be affixed to the container of any drug dispensed by the physician, and must comply with all laws and rules governing such labeling.
Please allow 7-10 business days for Board staff to review and process your application.
Step 3:
Once Board staff has confirmed that all registration requirements have been met, the registration will be issued. You will be notified via email once your registration has been issued.
Dispensing Physician FAQs
Dispensing Physician Scope
No. More information is found here.
No. More information is found here.
No. The dispensing physician statute authorizes physicians “who dispense prescription drugs for a fee or other charge” to do so as long as the physician registers with the Board of Pharmacy and complies with laws governing the “distribution of drugs, including packaging, labeling, and recordkeeping.”
The statute does not authorize physicians to compound drugs for dispensing. Dispensing and compounding are separately defined activities under the Pharmacy Practice Act (GS 90-85.3(c) & (f)), and compounding is not a lesser-included activity of dispensing.
Dispensing Physician Renewal
Follow this link for FAQs regarding renewal of your dispensing physician registration.
Physician Assistant & Nurse Practitioner Eligibility
Physician Assistants (PAs) and Nurse Practitioners (NPs) may dispense prescription drugs that they are authorized to prescribe under certain circumstances. 21 NCAC 46.1703(a)&(b).
Dispensing PAs/NPs may only dispense drugs from a place holding a North Carolina pharmacy permit. 21 NCAC 46.1703(c). And Dispensing PAs/NPs are subject to oversight by the pharmacist-manager of the pharmacy from which they dispense. 21 NCAC 46.1703(d)&(e); 21 NCAC 46.1706.
Dispensing PAs/NPs must register with the Board of Pharmacy prior to conducting any dispensing activities. GS § 90-85.24(a)(11)-(14); 21 NCAC 46.1703.
NOTE: Before filing a registration application, the PA/NP must be employed or affiliated with an entity holding a North Carolina pharmacy permit from which the dispensing will occur. PAs/NPs may not register with the Board as independent dispensers. Nor may PAs/NPs register to dispense under the supervision of a dispensing physician.
Physician Assistant & Nurse Practitioner Instructions / Information
Step 1:
Navigate to the Board's Licensure Gateway and create a profile by clicking REGISTER NOW. Make sure you save your username and password. You will need them for all registration processes. Follow this link for a video tutorial that reviews the profile creation process in detail.
Step 2:
Log into your profile on the Board's Licensure Gateway and submit the Dispensing PA/NP Registration application. There is a $75 NON-REFUNDABLE/NON-TRANSFERABLE application fee.
The application will require the applicant to enter in the Pharmacy permit number of the pharmacy they are working with. Please ensure that you have that number before you begin the application.
Please allow 7-10 business days for Board staff to review and process your application.
Step 3:
Board staff will confirm that all registration requirements have been met. If so, Board staff issue the license. You will be notified via the email address you have recorded in your profile once your license has been issued. Make sure you follow all instructions provided to you in that email.
If Board staff needs additional or clarifying information about your application, you will be notified via the email address you have recorded in your profile. Prompt, complete responses to any requests for additional information will ensure that the application review continues in a timely manner.
Dispensing Physician Assistant & Nurse Practitioner (PA / NP) FAQs
PA / NP Application
No. A dispensing PA/NP may only dispense prescription drugs from a place holding a North Carolina pharmacy permit. 21 NCAC 46.1703(c). Accordingly, before filing a registration application, the PA/NP must be employed or affiliated with an entity holding a North Carolina pharmacy permit from which the dispensing will occur. PAs/NPs may not register with the Board as independent dispensers. Nor may PAs/NPs register to dispense under the supervision of a dispensing physician.
No. A dispensing physician registration is not a pharmacy permit. That registration allows the physician to dispense to her own patients, and the physician must perform all dispensing activities herself.
A dispensing PA/NP may only dispense prescription drugs from a place holding a North Carolina pharmacy permit. 21 NCAC 46.1703(c).
PA / NP Scope of Authority
More information about dispensing PA/NP scope of authority is found here.
PA / NP Renewal
Follow this link for FAQs regarding renewal of your dispensing PA/NP registration.
Dispensing Optometrists
Effective Friday, March 1, 2024, optometrists may register with the NC Board of Pharmacy to dispense certain prescription drugs. G.S. § 90-127.4. Dispensing optometrists may dispense prescription drugs to their own patients only for the diagnosis and treatment of abnormal conditions of the eye and its adnexa. G.S. § 90-127.4(a) & (c). Dispensing optometrists may not compound medications, nor may they dispense controlled substances. G.S. § 90-127.4(a).
Dispensing optometrists must register with the Board of Pharmacy prior to beginning dispensing activities and must renew that registration annually. G.S. § 90-85.26B. The initial registration fee is $75, as is the annual renewal fee. G.S. § 90-85.24(a)(20).
A dispensing optometrist must comply in all respects with relevant laws and regulations that apply to pharmacists governing the distribution of drugs, including packaging, labeling, and record keeping. G.S. § 90-85.26B. The Board of Pharmacy may discipline a dispensing optometrist’s registration for violation of these laws and regulations. The Board of Optometry may discipline an optometrist’s license to practice optometry. G.S. § 90-85.25B.
Step-by-step instructions for completing a dispensing optometrist registration are found here.