(1) Purpose. The department shall impose disciplinary penalties upon a determination that the holder of a registration certificate has violated any provision of chapter 484 or 456, F.S., or any rules promulgated by the department or the Board of Opticianry.
    (2) Violations and Range of Penalties. In imposing discipline, the department shall act in accordance with the disciplinary guidelines set forth in form DH5028-MQA, Optical Establishment Disciplinary Guidelines (11/2017), incorporated by reference and available at https://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-09107.
    (3) The department shall take into consideration the following mitigating and aggravating factors in determining the appropriate disciplinary action to be imposed:
    (a) The danger to the public;
    (b) The length of time since the date of the violation;
    (c) The number of previous disciplinary cases filed against the permit holder;
    (d) The length of time the optical establishment has been in business;
    (e) The actual damage, physical or otherwise, to the optician, optometrist or patient;
    (f) The deterrent effect of the penalty imposed;
    (g) The effect of the penalty upon the permit holder’s livelihood;
    (h) Improvement or correction efforts;
    (i) Any other mitigating or aggravating circumstances.
    (4) The final order shall explain any mitigating or aggravating circumstances used to justify any deviation from the specified guidelines.
    (5) In addition to the penalty imposed, the department shall recover the costs of the investigation and prosecution of a case.
    (6) If the violation is for fraud or making a false or fraudulent representation, the department shall impose a fine of $10,000 per count or offense in addition to any other penalty imposed.
Rulemaking Authority 456.072, 456.079 FS. Law Implemented 456.072, 456.079, 484.014(4) FS. History-New 3-6-05, Amended 5-21-18.