Florida Statutes

Fla. Stat. § 456.003 (2025)

Legislative intent; requirements.

✓ 2025 Florida Statutes — current through the 2025 Regular Session
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section FL-LEGleg.state.fl.us JustiaFla. Statutes CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar
456.003 Legislative intent; requirements.
(1) It is the intent of the Legislature that persons desiring to engage in any lawful profession regulated by the department shall be entitled to do so as a matter of right if otherwise qualified.
(2) The Legislature further believes that such professions shall be regulated only for the preservation of the health, safety, and welfare of the public under the police powers of the state. Such professions shall be regulated when:
(a) Their unregulated practice can harm or endanger the health, safety, and welfare of the public, and when the potential for such harm is recognizable and clearly outweighs any anticompetitive impact which may result from regulation.
(b) The public is not effectively protected by other means, including, but not limited to, other state statutes, local ordinances, or federal legislation.
(c) Less restrictive means of regulation are not available.
(3) It is further legislative intent that the use of the term “profession” with respect to those activities licensed and regulated by the department shall not be deemed to mean that such activities are not occupations for other purposes in state or federal law.
(4)(a) Neither the department nor any board may create unreasonably restrictive and extraordinary standards that deter qualified persons from entering the various professions. Neither the department nor any board may take any action that tends to create or maintain an economic condition that unreasonably restricts competition, except as specifically provided by law.
(b) Neither the department nor any board may create a regulation that has an unreasonable effect on job creation or job retention in the state or that places unreasonable restrictions on the ability of individuals who seek to practice or who are practicing a profession or occupation to find employment.
(c) The Legislature shall evaluate proposals to increase the regulation of regulated professions or occupations to determine the effect of increased regulation on job creation or retention and employment opportunities.
(5) Policies adopted by the department shall ensure that all expenditures are made in the most cost-effective manner to maximize competition, minimize licensure costs, and maximize public access to meetings conducted for the purpose of professional regulation. The long-range planning function of the department shall be implemented to facilitate effective operations and to eliminate inefficiencies.
(6) Unless expressly and specifically granted in statute, the duties conferred on the boards do not include the enlargement, modification, or contravention of the lawful scope of practice of the profession regulated by the boards. This subsection shall not prohibit the boards, or the department when there is no board, from taking disciplinary action or issuing a declaratory statement.
History.s. 38, ch. 97-261; s. 135, ch. 99-251; s. 38, ch. 2000-160; s. 57, ch. 2001-277.
Note.Former s. 455.517.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 8 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 2004–2024 · leading case: Consultech of Jacksonville, Inc. v. DOH, 876 So. 2d 731 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004).
Consultech of Jacksonville, Inc. v. DOH, 876 So. 2d 731 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004). · cites it 12× “In its petition, Consultech mainly focused upon DOH's scoring of selected portions of the competing proposals of ISF and Consultech and also argued that DOH's notice of intent to award the contract to ISF contravened section 456.003(5), Florida Statutes, because neither the ALJ…”
Sloban v. Florida Bd. of Pharmacy, 982 So. 2d 26 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008). · cites it 2× “See § 456.003, Fla. Stat. (2006). Additionally, it cannot be said that the legislature would have passed the first *33 sentence without the second and third sentences, as this would require the assumption that the second and third sentences are merely surplusage.”
Dr. Bernd Wollschlaeger v. Governor of the State of Florida, 814 F.3d 1159 (11th Cir. 2015). · cites it 2× “See Fla. Stat. § 456.003 (2) (stating the Florida legislature’s belief that “the preservation of the health, safety, and welfare of the public” is the only permissible objective of regulations of the health professions).”
Dr. Bernd Wollschlaeger v. Governor of the State of Florida, 797 F.3d 859 (11th Cir. 2015). “at 2376, in the area of professional regulation — preserving its citizens from harmful or ineffective professional practices, see Fla. Stat. § 456.003 (2) (stating the Florida legislature’s belief that “the preservation of the health, safety, and welfare of the public” is the…”
William Kale, Ph.D. v. Dep't of Health, 175 So. 3d 815 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015). · cites it 2× “See also § 456.003(2), Fla. Stat. (2013) (“The Legislature further believes that such professions shall be regulated only for the preservation of the health, safety, and welfare of the public under the police powers of the state.”
Active Spine Centers, LLC v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 911 So. 2d 241 (Fla. 3d DCA 2005). · cites it 2× “” See § 456.003(2), Fla. Stat. (2001). Only by enforcing the registration statute in circumstances such as this can Florida citizens be protected.”
Sorenson v. Prof'l Compounding Pharmacists of W. Pennsylvania, Inc., 191 So. 3d 929 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016). · cites it 2× “" § 456.003(1), (2). A pharmacist is a "health care practitioner" under section 456.”
Bradley D. Schaffner v. Florida Dep't of Health (Fla. 1st DCA 2024). “As a pharmacy student intern, Appellant qualified as a “licensee” under section 456.003(6) because he was admitted to USFCOP, then certified by the Board of Pharmacy and registered with the Department.”
— 456.003(1) — 1 case
Sorenson v. Prof'l Compounding Pharmacists of W. Pennsylvania, Inc., 191 So. 3d 929 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016). “" § 456.003(1), (2). A pharmacist is a "health care practitioner" under section 456.”
— 456.003(2) — 2 cases
William Kale, Ph.D. v. Dep't of Health, 175 So. 3d 815 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015). “See also § 456.003(2), Fla. Stat. (2013) (“The Legislature further believes that such professions shall be regulated only for the preservation of the health, safety, and welfare of the public under the police powers of the state.”
Active Spine Centers, LLC v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 911 So. 2d 241 (Fla. 3d DCA 2005). “” See § 456.003(2), Fla. Stat. (2001). Only by enforcing the registration statute in circumstances such as this can Florida citizens be protected.”
— 456.003(5) — 1 case
Consultech of Jacksonville, Inc. v. DOH, 876 So. 2d 731 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004). “In its petition, Consultech mainly focused upon DOH's scoring of selected portions of the competing proposals of ISF and Consultech and also argued that DOH's notice of intent to award the contract to ISF contravened section 456.003(5), Florida Statutes, because neither the ALJ…”
— 456.003(6) — 1 case
Bradley D. Schaffner v. Florida Dep't of Health (Fla. 1st DCA 2024). “As a pharmacy student intern, Appellant qualified as a “licensee” under section 456.003(6) because he was admitted to USFCOP, then certified by the Board of Pharmacy and registered with the Department.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.

This Florida statute resource is curated by Florida Bar member Graham W. Syfert, a Jacksonville, Florida personal injury and workers' compensation attorney (Florida Bar No. 39104). For legal consultation, call 904-383-7448.