District of Columbia Code
Subchapter III - Substitution of Therapeutically Equivalent Drugs
§ 48–803.05. Dispensation of equivalent products by pharmacists — Consideration as practice of medicine or evidence of negligence; failure of physician to specify specific brand

(a) The substitution of drugs by a licensed pharmacist under this subchapter, including the substitution of an interchangeable biological product shall not constitute the practice of medicine. Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed as authorizing a pharmacist to prescribe any drug or medication.
(b) Substitution of drugs made in accordance with § 48-803.02 shall not constitute evidence of negligence or improper pharmacy practice if the substitution was made within reasonable and prudent pharmacy practice or if the prescribed and substituted drugs were generically equivalent drugs products or an interchangeable biological product as determined under this chapter.
(c) Failure of a licensed physician to specify that a specific brand is necessary for the particular patient shall not constitute evidence of negligence unless the physician had reasonable cause to believe that the health of the patient required the use of that brand and no other.
(Sept. 10, 1976, D.C. Law 1-81, title III, § 305, 23 DCR 2460; Apr. 7, 1977, D.C. Law 1-114, § 4(b), 23 DCR 8743; Mar. 11, 2010, D.C. Law 18-118, § 2(f), 57 DCR 901; Oct. 20, 2020, D.C. Law 23-133, § 2(g), 67 DCR 9880.)
1981 Ed., § 33-735.
1973 Ed., § 33-835.
D.C. Law 18-118 rewrote subsec. (a); and, in subsec. (b), substituted “generically equivalent drug products” for “therapeutically equivalent”. Prior to amendment, subsec. (a) read as follows: “(a) The substitution of therapeutically equivalent drugs by a licensed pharmacist under § 48-803.02 shall not constitute the practice of medicine.

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