Fla. bill would license, regulate cash-only clinics

A regulatory loophole in Florida state law allows cash-only medical clinics to skirt the licensing and regulation that apply to most other clinics—a loophole that allegedly allows some of them to dispense drugs illicitly. SB 746, introduced by state Sen. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, would require such clinics to be licensed by the state Agency for Health Care Administration and subject to state inspection. The measure sailed through the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice earlier this week.

SB 746 would make all clinics subject to applicable criminal penalties for allowing a physician whose license is suspended or revoked to continue to practice. The bill is aimed at storefront clinics, which don’t accept Medicare or insurance payments, that open after procuring the support of a rogue practitioner and dispense illicit steroids, human growth hormone and other medications—and leave when law enforcement closes in.

Source: Miami Herald