A plaintiff must exhaust administrative remedies and present a justiciable issue before seeking judicial relief regarding professional licensing requirements.
A pharmacist who holds a license in another state but has not applied for an examination or reciprocal registration in Florida seeks a court order directing the state board of pharmacy to prescribe additional licensing requirements. The court addresses whether the plaintiff may seek judicial relief without first attempting to obtain a license through administrative channels. The court applies the rule that a plaintiff must exhaust administrative remedies before seeking judicial review and that a justiciable issue must exist. Because the plaintiff failed to apply for an examination or demonstrate eligibility for reciprocal registration, the court holds that no justiciable issue is presented and the administrative process was not exhausted, requiring dismissal of the bill.
Other citing cases
- Laborers' Int'l Union of North Am., Local 517 v. Greater Orlando Aviation Auth., 385 So. 2d 716 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980).published
- Hildebrandt v. Dade Cnty. Bd. of Rules & Appeals, 18 Fla. Supp. 124 (Fla. Cir. Ct., Miami-Dade Cty. 1961).published
v.
Max PLOTKIN, Respondent.
Richard W. Ervin, Atty. Gen., and Phillip Goldman and James L. Graham, Jr., Asst. Attys. Gen., for petitioners.
Robert H. Givens, Jr., Miami, for respondent.
THOMAS, Justice.
The respondent filed a bill seeking a decree construing Sec. 465.071(1), Florida Statutes 1953 and F.S.A., and directing the Florida Board of Pharmacy "to prescribe, pursuant to subparagraph (d) [of the act] the additional requirements as to age, education, experience and moral character which will effectuate the intentions of the Legislature * * *." At first the chancellor dismissed the bill on motion of the present petitioner then, on rehearing, he rescinded his order.
We think he was correct the first time. The respondent concedes in his brief that he has not applied to the Board of Pharmacy for permission to take the examination so that his fitness to practice pharmacy in this state can be determined; and so far as we can learn from the record, he has not applied for reciprocal registration, or shown that Sec. 465.081, Florida Statutes 1953 and F.S.A., providing for registration here, under certain conditions, of pharmacists qualified in another state is applicable by reason of the fact the State of New Jersey, where the respondent claims to have been licensed, grants registration under the same circumstances to pharmicists of this state.
Our view is that the bill should have been dismissed because no justiciable issue was presented and because the plaintiff had made no effort to exhaust his administrative remedies. Ervin v. City of North Miami Beach, Fla., 66 So.2d 235; De Carlo v. Town of West Miami, Fla., 49 So.2d 596.
The petition for certiorari is granted and the order vacating the order granting the motion to dismiss is quashed with directions to dismiss the bill.
MATHEWS, C.J., and TERRELL, SEBRING and ROBERTS, JJ., concur.