PHARMACY

							                                                  H. D. SMITH
                                                  PHARMACY
                                                                           FORUM                  Volume 5, Issue 8, August 2010

Around the Industry
H.R. 5809                                                       database showing previous prescriptions patients had filled
Titled the Safe Drug Disposal Act of 2010, this bill seeks to   for medications that include pain relievers. The database will
amend the Controlled Substances Act to allow an ultimate        be updated weekly.
user who has lawfully obtained a controlled substance (or,
if deceased, anyone authorized to dispose of the ultimate       S. 148
user’s property) to deliver that substance to another person    Titled the Discount Pricing Consumer Protection Act, this
for disposal if: (1) the person receiving the controlled        bill proposes to amend the Sherman Act to declare that any
substance is authorized to receive and dispose of the           contract, combination, conspiracy, or agreement setting a
substance; and (2) the delivery and disposal take place in      minimum price below which a product or service cannot be
accordance with regulations issued by the Attorney General      sold by a retailer, wholesaler or distributor violates the Act.
to prevent diversion of controlled substances.
                                                                S. 3543
This bill directs: (1) the Attorney General to authorize        Titled the Medication Therapy Management Expanded
long-term care facilities to deliver for disposal controlled    Benefits Act of 2010, this bill seeks to amend the Patient
substances on behalf of ultimate users; (2) the Director        Protection and Affordable Care Act by expanding access
of National Drug Control Policy to carry out a public           to medication therapy management services under the
education and outreach campaign to increase awareness           Medicare prescription drug program. Specifically, the PDP
of safe drug disposal; (3) the Comptroller General to collect   sponsor shall establish a process for identifying individuals
data on the delivery, transfer and disposal of controlled       who (I) are not described targeted beneficiaries; (II) are not
substances under this Act and to submit findings and            otherwise offered medication therapy management services;
recommendations to Congress on the use, effectiveness           and (III) a pharmacist or other qualified provider determines
and accessibility of disposal programs; and (4) the             may benefit from medication therapy management services.
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency            Furthermore, if enacted, the Secretary shall establish
(EPA) to study the environmental impacts from the ultimate      measures and standards for data collection by PDP sponsors
disposal of controlled substances and the ease and cost of      to evaluate the performance of pharmacies and other entities
implementation of drug take-back programs.                      furnishing these services.

Iowa                                                            H.R. 4199
The Board of Pharmacy has recently implemented an               Also known as the PHARMACY Bill sponsored by
electronic tracking program that will monitor the sales of      Congressman G. K. Butterfield (D-NC), this bill seeks
pseudoephedrine, ephedrine and phenylpropanolamine in           to ensure increased patient choice while placing tighter
real time.                                                      restrictions on pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). There are
                                                                four main points to this legislation: 1) Equal access for the
Massachusetts                                                   patient to go to the pharmacy of their choice. 2) Establishes
State regulators have approved the new detection system         at the Federal level pharmacist recognition as healthcare
designed to stop “doctor shopping” by addicted patients         providers. 3) Carries manufacturers’ rebates directly back
who try to dupe doctors into prescribing narcotics. The         to the Federal Program, not to the PBMs. 4) Establishes a
tracking system approved by the Public Health Council           pharmacy reimbursement structure.
will allow physicians and pharmacists to review an online


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  PHARMACY FORUM                                                                                                Page 2

NCPA’s Latest Niche Service Member Offering:
Making Long Term Care Pharmacy More Successful


By Douglas Hoey, Acting NCPA                Our voice has often been missing from       of the latter), and not independent
Executive Vice President and CEO            the discussion that was dominated           community pharmacies.
                                            by giant long-term care corporations;
According to the 2007 Senior Care           that is no longer the case. What used       Our involvement in these areas is
Source report, it is estimated that by      to sound like a din will soon become        necessary, because in the past
the end of this year, ten percent of the    a roar, because the model we have           decision-makers didn’t always
U.S. population will be greater than age    applied to other areas is being applied     consult with independent community
65, many of whom will need long-term        to LTC.                                     pharmacies when introducing bills
care (LTC) services. The demographic                                                    or issuing regulations affecting LTC.
tsunami of aging baby boomers (those        We are advocating for the critical issues   Our goal is to guarantee patients
individuals born between1946 and            affecting NCPA members who are              have access to our services, which
1964) will cause that percentage to         engaged in LTC and helping to grow          entails creating an environment
rise in the coming years and decades.       and differentiate their businesses from     where independent community
According to the 2009 NCPA Digest,          the competition. Some of our recent         pharmacies do not have to clear an
53 percent of independent community         advocacy efforts include: providing         overabundance of time-consuming
pharmacies offer services to the LTC        a community pharmacy perspective            hurdles or face the financially crippling
population (i.e., assisted daily living,    to CMS on the potential impacts of          dynamic of lower reimbursements and
hospice, LTC facility, senior care or       proposed short cycle dispensing rules;      added costs. You can read more on
correctional facility). NCPA believes one   working to find a compromise on the         our efforts at our new LTC website,
of the ways for independent community       LTC nurse-as-agent issue that insures       www.ncpaltc.org and sign up to
pharmacies to thrive is by tapping into     patients get needed medications             receive our monthly newsletter.
niche markets, which diversify and          in a timely manner; and submitting
grow their revenue streams, while also      recommendations to ensure the               Leading this effort is our Director of
raising their profile with the patients     smooth implementation of e-prescribing      Long-Term Care Policy and Regulatory
they serve. LTC certainly fits the bill.    rules in LTC settings. We are also          Affairs, Susan Janeczko, Pharm.D.
                                            closely monitoring the Medicare Part        Susan came to NCPA from the Centers
NCPA has received numerous                  D Gap Discount Program and Part             for Medicare and Medicaid Services
member requests to enhance our              B DME MAC Recoupment efforts                (CMS) where she was the lead clinician
advocacy efforts in the growing field       to help ensure that any government          working on the Medicare.gov website.
of LTC pharmacy, so this spring we          efforts to resolve pending financial        Feel free to contact Susan at susan.
made a concerted effort to increase         matters find their intended targets         janeczko@ncpanet.org or (703) 600-
our capabilities by adding staff and        (drug manufacturers in the case of the      1223 for more information. We look
providing resources that target             former, and Medicare Advantage and          forward to working with you and for
legislative and regulatory issues faced     Home Health Agencies in the case            you on this growing issue.
by pharmacies servicing LTC facilities.



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