657—8.11(147,155A) Unethical conduct or practice. The provisions of this rule apply to licensed pharmacies, licensed pharmacists, registered pharmacy technicians, registered pharmacy support persons, and registered pharmacist-interns.
	8.11(1) Misrepresentative deeds. A pharmacy, pharmacist, technician, support person, or pharmacist-intern shall not make any statement intended to deceive, misrepresent or mislead anyone, or be a party to or an accessory to any fraudulent or deceitful practice or transaction in pharmacy or in the operation or conduct of a pharmacy.
	8.11(2) Unethical conduct.
	a. 	A pharmacy, pharmacist, pharmacist-intern, technician, or support person shall not participate in any of the following types of unethical conduct:
	(1)	Any activity that negates a patient’s freedom of choice of pharmacy services.
	(2)	Providing prescription blanks or forms bearing the pharmacy’s name or other means of identification to any person authorized to prescribe, except that a hospital may make prescription blanks or forms bearing the hospital pharmacy’s name or other means of identification available to hospital staff prescribers, emergency department prescribers, and prescribers granted hospital privileges for the prescribers’ use during practice at or in the hospital.
	(3)	Any financial arrangement or transaction that would violate federal healthcare fraud, waste, and abuse laws, including but not limited to the Stark Law, the False Claims Act, and the Anti-Kickback Statute.
	b. 	A purchasing pharmacist or pharmacy shall not engage in any activity or include in any agreement with a selling pharmacist or pharmacy any provision that would prevent or prohibit the prior notifications required in subrule 8.35(7).
	8.11(3) Discrimination. A pharmacy, pharmacist, pharmacist-intern, technician, or pharmacy support person shall not discriminate between patients or groups of patients for reasons of religion, race, creed, color, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, or disease state when providing pharmaceutical services.
	8.11(4) Unprofessional conduct or behavior. A pharmacy, pharmacist, pharmacist-intern, technician, or pharmacy support person shall not engage in unprofessional behavior in connection with the practice of pharmacy. Unprofessional behavior shall include, but not be limited to, the following acts: verbal abuse, coercion, intimidation, harassment, sexual advances, threats, degradation of character, indecent or obscene conduct, theft, and the refusal to provide reasonable information or answer reasonable questions for the benefit of the patient.
[ARC 9526B, IAB 6/1/11, effective 7/6/11; ARC 3858C, IAB 6/20/18, effective 7/25/18]