Florida Statute 456.003 - Full Text and Legal Analysis

The 2025 Florida Statutes

Title XXXII
REGULATION OF PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS

Chapter 456
HEALTH PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS: GENERAL PROVISIONS

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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.

(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.

F.S. 456.003 on Google Scholar

F.S. 456.003 on CourtListener

Amendments to 456.003

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 456.003

Total Results: 11 | Sort by: Relevance | Newest First

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Aquamar S.A. v. Del Monte Fresh Produce N.A., Inc., 179 F.3d 1279 (11th Cir. 1999).

Cited 11 times | Published | Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit | 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 14654, 1999 WL 438982

Foreign Relations Law of the United States § 456(3) (1986) ("Under the law of the United States, a

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Sloban v. Florida Bd. of Pharmacy, 982 So. 2d 26 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008).

Cited 6 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 2008 Fla. App. LEXIS 4782, 2008 WL 876358

...Further, permitting reapplication in some instances is consistent with the general legislative intent that regulation of the medical professions is limited to the extent necessary to protect the public without unduly restricting those who wish to practice. See § 456.003, Fla....

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William Kale, Ph.D. v. Dep't of Health, 175 So. 3d 815 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015).

Cited 1 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 2015 WL 3516737

...ate uniform discipline for those actions made punishable under this section and, to this end, a reference to this section constitutes a general reference under the doctrine of incorporation by reference. (Emphasis added). See also § 456.003(2), Fla....

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Dr. Bernd Wollschlaeger v. Governor of the State of Florida, 797 F.3d 859 (11th Cir. 2015).

Cited 1 times | Published | Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit | 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 13070, 2015 WL 4530452

.... restriction; a single substantial interest is sufficient to satisfy Central Hudson’s first prong”). 67 Case: 12-14009 Date Filed: 07/28/2015 Page: 68 of 152 § 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)....

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Consultech of Jacksonville, Inc. v. DOH, 876 So. 2d 731 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004).

Cited 1 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 2004 WL 1562337

...ded protest and petition to DOH. 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 nor DOH properly weighed the element of cost....

...the ALJ's award of attorney's fees to ISF. ISSUES ON APPEAL The grounds for reversal argued by appellant may be summarized as follows: (1) whether DOH's failure to give greater deference to the "Financial Specifications" portion of the RFP violates section 456.003(5), Florida statutes; [3] (2) whether Consultech is entitled to the award due to the superior quality of its staff as well as its lower cost estimate for the development, maintenance, and operation of the CEU system; (3) whether the ALJ's award of attorney's fees to ISF for Consultech's failure to attend depositions was an abuse of discretion. We find no merit in any of these contentions. DISCUSSION OF ISSUES. We first consider appellant's contentions with regard to section 456.003(5), Florida Statutes....

...DOH, on the other hand, has interpreted the term "expenditures" to mean funds that will be paid out by DOH or one of its boards within its jurisdiction and control. This interpretation is clearly stated in the ALJ's recommended order (adopted in full by DOH's final order) as follows: Finally, section 456.003(5), Florida Statutes, on its face, is inapplicable to an evaluation of ISF's proposal or DOH's proposed award of the contract to ISF, because ISF's proposal does not involve any DOH `expenditures' for `licensure costs.' The import of this conclusion of law is amplified by the ALJ's further finding that *734 because no agency funds are involved in an award to ISF, Consultech has failed to affirmatively demonstrate that DOH's intent to award to ISF in any way offended section 456.003(5), Florida Statutes, which requires DOH to promulgate policies which are cost-effective....

...Co., 581 So.2d 193 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991) (finding that only upon a determination that an agency's interpretation is clearly erroneous will such an interpretation be overturned on appeal). We reject appellant's contention that DOH's interpretation of section 456.003(5) is clearly erroneous....

...and operate the system from private resources, and the financial capability to complete the state project. These specifications emphasized, in effect, the need for a "self-supporting" system with minimal or no resort to state funds or services. [4] Section 456.003(5), Florida Statutes, provides as follows: 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....

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Active Spine Centers, LLC v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 911 So. 2d 241 (Fla. 3d DCA 2005).

Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal | 2005 Fla. App. LEXIS 15346, 2005 WL 2373425

...16, 2000). The intent of the registration statute was to preserve “the health, safety and welfare of the public under police powers of the state” because unregulated clinics could “endanger the health, safety, and welfare of the public.” See § 456.003(2), Fla....

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Bradley D. Schaffner v. Florida Dep't of Health (Fla. 1st DCA 2024).

Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal

...To permit a licensee to indefinitely hide behind an inactive status while evidence is lost, witnesses disappear, and memory is eradicated serves no useful public interest. Id. at 544–45. 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....

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Sorenson v. Prof'l Compounding Pharmacists of W. Pennsylvania, Inc., 191 So. 3d 929 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016).

Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 2016 WL 2726274, 2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 7136

...cause of action exists when a statute does not expressly provide for one.” Id. Chapter 456 was enacted to regulate lawful professions “for the preservation of the health, safety, and welfare of the public under-the police powers of the state.” § 456.003(1), (2)....

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Aquamar S.A. v. Del Monte Fresh (11th Cir. 1999).

Published | Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

the Foreign Relations Law of the United States § 456(3) (1986) (“Under the law of the United States, a

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Isaac Indus., Inc. v. Bariven S.A. (11th Cir. 2025).

Published | Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

Argued: Dec 10, 2024

RESTATEMENT (THIRD) OF FOREIGN RELATIONS LAW § 456(3) (AM. L. INST. 1987). So “sover- eign immunity

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Dr. Bernd Wollschlaeger v. Governor of the State of Florida, 814 F.3d 1159 (11th Cir. 2015).

Published | Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit | 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 21573, 2015 WL 8639875

...The asserted interests “obviously factor[] into” the State’s “paramount . . . objective,” Fla. Bar, 515 U.S. at 624, 115 S. Ct. at 2376, in the area of professional regulation—protecting 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 only permissible objective of regulations of the health professions). While the Supreme Court has...

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