Illinois: Let’s not be so hasty

Illinois has a new requirement that nonresident pharmacies have until Jan. 1, 2026 to designate a pharmacist-in-charge who holds an Illinois pharmacy license if they want to dispense in the state. That would all be well and good, except that a fair number of pharmacists who have submitted the appropriate license application — as far as several months back — haven’t received their licenses.

With the new requirement looming, that prolonged processing time puts nonresident pharmacies in a difficult position. We and our NCPA friends wrote a letter to the Illinois Board of Pharmacy asking it for a period of enforcement discretion for any nonresident pharmacy that submitted its PIC license application in time “and is awaiting approval solely due to administrative processing delays.”