Alabama Board of Pharmacy News:

State of Alabama Board of Pharmacy Sued Over Unlawful Emergency Rules

On October 1, 2025, attorney Joseph C. Kreps with Kreps Law Firm, LLC filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Montgomery County on behalf of Alabama pharmacist, Emily Singletary Pinon. This case challenges the Alabama State Board of Pharmacy’s latest attempt to sidestep the law and impose unlawful fines and obligations on Alabama pharmacists, technicians, pharmacies and other entities licensed by the Board.

The lawsuit asks the court for a declaratory judgment and injunction under Ala. Code § 41-22-10, the section of the Alabama Administrative Procedure Act (APA) that allows courts to strike down agency rules that violate the law, exceed statutory authority, or are adopted without following proper procedures.

If you’re dealing with any Alabama agency or licensing board rule that was adopted unlawfully, here’s how Ala. Code § 41-22-10 of the Alabama Administrative Procedure Act can be used to challenge it in court.

This case matters not just for one pharmacist, but for every licensee of the Alabama State Board of Pharmacy. It is about whether the Alabama State Board of Pharmacy must follow the law or whether they can operate in the shadows, free from oversight.

The August 20 “Emergency Rules”: A Manufactured Crisis by the State of Alabama Board of Pharmacy

On August 20, 2025, the Board adopted a package of so-called “emergency rules” claiming they were needed to protect public health and to comply with Act 2025-372.

But here’s the problem:

No Emergency Existed: Under Ala. Code § 41-22-5(b), an agency can only adopt an emergency rule if there is an “immediate danger to the public health, safety, or welfare” or if compliance with a federal law requires it. The Board cited neither. Instead, it pointed to Act 2025-372, a state law passed months earlier. That is not a federal statute and it does not create an emergency.
The Board Had Time: Governor Ivey signed Act 2025-372 into law on May 14, 2025. The Board had months to go through the normal notice-and-comment process required by the APA. Instead, it waited and then pulled the “emergency” lever at the last minute and not to protect the public, but to protect its revenue stream.
Sworn Testimony Confirms It: At the September 25, 2025 Sunset Committee hearing, Board members admitted under oath that they did not declare an emergency at all. They passed the rules to move backlogged cases and to impress legislators. In other words, the “emergency” was fake. This seems strikingly like the same deferral scheme the Board was condemned for during the last Pharmacy Board Sunset Audit, which ended with the August 22, 2024 hearing. Back then, the Board tried to shift blame to its former attorney of 40 years. Now, it appears they are reviving the very same scheme under a new guise.

Why These Administrative Non-Disciplinary Rules at the Pharmacy Board in Alabama Are Unlawful

The lawsuit outlines several reasons why the August 20 rules cannot stand:

No statutory basis: They were not adopted to address immediate danger or federal compliance, as the APA requires.
Conflict with state law: Act 2025-372 restricted the Board’s ability to collect unlawful and excessive fines. These rules tried to get around those new limits.
Procedural violations: By using the emergency rule process, the Board bypassed the notice, comment, and legislative review that are the cornerstone of transparent government.
Secrecy: One section of the rules even tried to declare that “administrative fines and non-disciplinary violations shall not be considered public record,” a blatant attempt to override Alabama’s Public Records Law and hide its enforcement practices.

The Larger Pattern of Abuse at the Alabama State Pharmacy Board

This is not an isolated event. For years, the Alabama State Board of Pharmacy has:

Conducted secret backroom deals including a recent pay off of the former executive secretary without public deliberation.
Resisted moving its money into the state treasury, even after Executive Order 726 required transparency.
Continued to pay excessive salaries and reimbursements to board members, even after the law changed to prohibit these payments.
Used unlawful fines and penalties to raise revenue on the backs of pharmacists and pharmacies.

The August 20 “emergency rules” are just the latest chapter in this pattern of defiance, concealment, and abuse of power.

What the Lawsuit Against the Alabama State Board of Pharmacy Seeks

The relief requested is straightforward:

Declare the August 20, 2025 emergency rules invalid and unenforceable.
Immediately stop the Board from enforcing them.
Force the Board to immediately return all unlawfully collected fines and fees.

This is not about policy disagreements. This is about the rule of law. If an agency can make up emergencies and rewrite statutes to fit its needs, then no pharmacist, no nurse, no doctor, and no professional licensee in Alabama is safe from the same abuse.

Why This Matters for Every Licensee of the State Board of Pharmacy in Alabama

Pharmacists like Emily are forced to live under the threat of aggressive enforcement and these unlawful rules every day. The fines and penalties are not just paperwork; they affect livelihoods, financial solvency, professional reputations, and the ability to continue serving patients.

When agencies operate outside the law, it erodes public trust and undermines the very safeguards that protect professionals and the public alike. The courts are an important check when agencies refuse to follow the law, and that is exactly why this lawsuit was filed.

Accountability and Continuing the Fight

This lawsuit is about accountability. It is about stopping an agency that the Legislature has worked diligently and tirelessly to correct through Legislative action. However, the Board continues to ignore the law and operate beyond the limits of its own authority. At the same time, the Attorney General’s Office seemed to step in to defend the Board’s unlawful actions at the September 25, 2025 Sunset Hearing. The Board continues to insist it has the Attorney General’s stamp of approval to press forward with this and other highly questionable conduct. The Board not only hides behind that supposed approval but repeatedly invokes it as justification for breaking the law.

Why would the Governor herself choose to hand the Board a pass by granting the Board an exemption from Executive Order 726? Instead of enforcing transparency, the Governor has seemingly allowed this Board to continue hiding its money in private accounts, shielding its finances from the very oversight Executive Order 726 was designed to ensure. The Board is already out of compliance with the exemption letter and the financials posted seemed to differ significantly from other financials received through public records requests. And most troubling, the exemption letter provides no enforcement mechanism at all, reducing it to little more than window dressing.

Conclusion

The Alabama State Board of Pharmacy may believe it can outlast its critics and hide behind “emergencies” of its own making. But the law is clear: emergency rulemaking is an exception, not a loophole. The Alabama State Board of Pharmacy must follow the same laws as every other agency. The Citizens of Alabama have every right to expect that the Governor’s Office and the Attorney General will enforce the law as to these Boards and not help them sidestep or circumvent it. Governor Ivey herself said it best in Executive Order 726, noting that one component of the faithful execution of the law “has been a prohibition against bad-faith exercise of these duties, and especially a prohibition against self-dealing and mismanagement of public funds.” And yet, that is exactly what has taken root here and not only allowed to happen, but allowed to continue.

We will continue this fight to ensure the Board is held accountable, the law is enforced, and Alabama pharmacists and all other licensees are protected from unlawful emergency rules and overreach. If you have problems with or have been harmed by the Alabama State Board of Pharmacy, Click Here to reach out and let us know.