The Medicaid preferred drug list (PDL) was again revised effective July 27 to include several products that were inadvertently listed as non-preferred. The PDL is also available through the Epocrates drug information system.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) appointed pharmacist Lynn Crouse, PharmD, to a six-year term on the Board of Pharmacy.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
The Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) will hold a stakeholder meeting on Tuesday, August 7, from 10:00 am to 12: 00 pm to receive community input on proposed revisions to the state’s Immunization Registry regulation (Regulation 61-120). Proposed revisions will allow DHEC to provide specific data from the Immunization Registry to health plans. Proposed amendments may also include: (1) details regarding the availability and use of a patient portal, which will be a feature of the new Registry; (2) clarifications pertaining to patient consent for the new patient portal and (3) revisions to bring the regulation into conformity with updates and improvements to the Registry and advancements in public health practice. Details about the meeting, including registration to attend, is available online.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.
Based on member input, NACDS submitted a letter to the Board of Pharmacy commenting favorably on a proposed rule that will allow pharmacy technicians and pharmacy technician trainees to load prepackaged containers previously verified by a pharmacist or manufacturer’s unit of use packages into an automated dispensing system.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
On June 28, the California Legislature passed and the Governor signed into law AB 375, which is sweeping new privacy legislation that will place numerous additional privacy requirements on businesses and give consumers broad, new rights. This legislation, though officially opposed by the business community, was presented by legislators to the industry on June 21 as a “take it or leave it” alternative to the Consumer Privacy Initiative, which would have appeared on the November ballot.
Effective Wednesday, January 1, 2020, the law gives consumers various rights with respect to their personal information collected by businesses—the right to access it, the right to delete it, the right to know what information/categories of information are collected, the right to know whether that information is being sold or shared, the right to stop a business from selling that info and the right to equal service and price. It also contains a private right of action for data breaches and gives enforcement and regulatory powers to the Attorney General.
AB 375 impacts any business with gross annual revenues over $25 million that collects consumers’ personal information. Compliance will consist of new notice and disclosure requirements, privacy policy revisions and limitations on what information can be collected, shared and sold.
Also in California…Gov. Edmund Brown, Jr. (D), announced the re-appointment of public member Ricardo Sanchez, and new appointment of acute care pharmacist Maria Serpa to the Board of Pharmacy.
Also in California…The executive officer of the Board of Pharmacy, Virginia Herold, announced that she will be retiring at the end of the year. Prior to assuming the position in January 2007, she served as assistant executive officer of the Board for 16.5 years and interim executive officer for seven months.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
In response to a request to increase the pharmacy technician-to-pharmacist ratio from 3:1 to 8:1 in pharmacies that do not dispense prescriptions, the Board of Pharmacy agreed to schedule the issue for consideration at a workshop meeting on Thursday, September 6 in Reno.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
SB 1442, legislation sponsored by United Food & Commercial Workers Union that requires no pharmacist to be left alone in a store, was successfully amended recently. As amended, the bill will both refer to “community pharmacy” and include an itemization of exempted entities to make very clear which pharmacies must comply. Redrafted language regarding the bill’s core requirement will read that an employee must be “made available to assist the pharmacist at all times.” This redrafted language was negotiated to ensure that any employee in the store can assist the pharmacist, if needed, and not just a pharmacy technician or pharmacy clerk. The final language exempts the new requirements from the misdemeanor provisions without further specifying remedies, essentially retaining the Board of Pharmacy’s enforcement options while ensuring violations won’t constitute a new crime.
Also in California…AB 2789, legislation by Assemblymember Jim Wood (D) sponsored by the Board of Pharmacy that will require all prescriptions to be transmitted electronically by Saturday, January 1, 2022, was again amended in the Senate Appropriations Committee on July 3.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
On July 10, Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) announced three new appointments and two re-appointments to the 17-member Board of Pharmacy. New appointees include:
Serving another term are Rhonny Valentine, a pharmacist who provides relief work for retail pharmacies, and Blake Pitre, a pharmacist and owner of B&J Pitre Pharmacy.
Also in Louisiana…Ben Orlando, RPh with Brookshire Pharmacy in Monroe was honored as the 2018 Louisiana Chain Pharmacist of the Year at the Louisiana Pharmacists Association’s Annual Meeting held last weekend in Lafayette.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
Failing to receive an endorsement from the Democrat Party, Ballot Initiative 146: Healthcare Price Transparency will not be on the November 6 ballot. Similar to legislation (HB18-1358) that Planned Parenthood, chain pharmacy and a broad-based healthcare coalition defeated this past legislative session, this ballot initiative would have required all healthcare providers that receive and treat patients to provide an easily accessible list of prices for each healthcare service offered. The price list would have to be provided in printed form and electronically.
Also in Colorado…In advance of the July 19 Board of Pharmacy meeting, based on member input, NACDS submitted comments on the proposed rule on perpetual inventory. NACDS raised the concern that the language specifying that pharmacies keep a perpetual inventory that includes counts for “outdated” controlled substances could create confusion, so we provided clarifying language.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.