Business and Professions Code section 4317.6
(a)
For the purposes of this section, “mail order pharmacy” is defined as a nonresident pharmacy that dispenses medications and ships them to patients via the postal service or other mail delivery method.(b)
The board may bring an action for fines for repeated violations of materially similar provisions of this chapter within five years for a single mail order pharmacy, or multiple mail order pharmacies operating under common ownership or management for a third or subsequent violation, which may be punished by an administrative fine not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) per violation.(c)
The board shall not bring an action for fines pursuant to subdivision (b) until at least six months have elapsed from the date the board determines that a violation has occurred unless the violation giving rise to the action resulted in actual harm to any consumer or serious potential harm to the public.(d)
In determining the amount of the fine sought in an action brought pursuant to this section, the board shall consider relevant mitigating and aggregating factors, including, but not limited to, the good faith of the licensee, the communication of written changes to unlawful policies, the gravity of the violation, the potential harm to a patient, whether the violation affects the professional judgment or independence of pharmacists, and the history of previous violations by the mail order pharmacy, or in the case of multiple mail order pharmacies operating under common ownership or management, the history of the previous violations by the common ownership or control.(e)
The authority granted by this section is in addition to the authority of the board to institute any other administrative, civil, or criminal action.(f)
The fines in subdivision (b) shall be imposed in accordance with Section 4314.
Source:
Section 4317.6, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=BPC§ionNum=4317.6. (updated Jan. 1, 2026; accessed Dec. 15, 2025).
