Washington State

Office of the Attorney General

Attorney General

Bob Ferguson

AGO 1983 NO. 12 >

(1) Although RCW 18.64.020 prohibits the practice of pharmacy by persons other than licensed pharmacists, it is nevertheless lawful for certain practitioners other than licensed pharmacists (generally those who are authorized to prescribe such drugs) also to dispense both legend drugs and controlled substances. (2) The State Board of Pharmacy is authorized by statute to promulgate rules governing the dispensing of drugs by those other persons, as well as by licensed pharmacists.

AGLO 1978 NO. 12 >

(1) It is legally permissible for a registered nurse, licensed in the State of Washington, to execute medical orders, including those for the administration of legend drugs and certain controlled substances, issued by a physician's assistant licensed under chapter 18.71A RCW before such orders are countersigned by the supervising physician.

(2) General discussion of the power of the State Board of Nursing to adopt a regulation concerning the authority of licensed registered nurses to execute such medical orders of a physician's assistant.

AGO 1978 NO. 26 >

By reason of the due process clause of Amendment XIV to the United States Constitution, as construed and applied by the courts in analogous cases involving criminal statutes prohibiting the possession of burglar tools, certain proposed legislative bills designed to prohibit the sale or possession of drug-related paraphernalia would, in all probability, be held unconstitutional if enacted in their present form.

AGLO 1977 NO. 29 >

(1) Emergency mobile health care personnel, as defined in RCW 18.71.200, need not receive a new authorization from a physician for each instance in which they perform the emergency procedures for which they are certified.

(2) The requirement of RCW 18.71.210 that services of emergency health care personnel be rendered under the responsible supervision and control of a licensed physician is satisfied when:

(a) The services are rendered at the scene of an emergency to a person who is in imminent danger of loss of life or has suffered grievous bodily injury; and

AGO 1952 NO. 301 >

A wholesaler is every person who operates a business wherein he sells drugs or drug sundries at wholesale, namely in quantity lots other than to the consumer, and the State Board of Pharmacy is required to license all said persons.