NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT on December 19, 2018, the Board of Medicine issued a Final Order on the petition for declaratory statement filed on behalf of Florida Arthritis & Rheumatology Associates, LLC (FARA). The Notice of the Petition was published in Volume 44, No. 17, of the January 25, 2018, issue of the Florida Administrative Register. The Board reviewed the Petition at its meetings held on April 6, 2018, and August 3, 2018. The Board’s Final Order finds that while the Board believes that the writing of a prescription may constitute a referral, it does not believe that under the circumstances presented by FARA such a prescription would constitute a prohibited referral “to another health care provider or to an entity” under the Patient Self-Referral Act as long as FARA’s physicians nor any of its agents make any attempt to direct the patient to have his or her prescription filled at the FARA owned onsite pharmacy. A copy of the Final Order may be obtained by contacting the Board of Medicine, 4052 Bald Cypress Way, Bin #C03, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3253.
