Nevada

• Nevada Stands to Receive $6.1 Million in $700 Million Settlement Against Johnson & Johnson (2news.com)
  

  Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford announced that he and 42 other attorneys general have reached a $700 million nationwide settlement with Johnson & Johnson...This settlement is related to the marketing of Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder and body powder products that contained talc...As part of this settlement, which is pending judicial approval, Nevada will receive $6,131,236.22... "This case shows the danger of deceptive trade practices and their potential impacts on the heath and safety of consumers,” said AG Ford. “My office will always stand up against corporations who value their bottom line over their duty to the public. We will always work to hold such actors accountable.”...READ MORE

• Pharmacists in Nevada will soon be able to prescribe opioid addiction medication (greatbasinsun.com)
  

  Medications like buprenorphine and naltrexone have been proven to reduce cravings and withdrawal symptoms in people with opioid use disorder...Pharmacists in Nevada will soon be able to prescribe medications designed to help opioid addiction...The regulation, R059-23, was approved...by the Legislative Commission, a 11-member bipartisan board of legislators that gives final stamps of approval on regulations established by executive branch agencies and boards. State Sen. Lisa Krasner, R-Reno, cast the only vote in opposition...The change is the result of Assembly Bill 156, which passed the Nevada State Legislature with unanimous support last year...READ MORE

• Nevada pharmacy board’s regulatory role over cannabis in limbo (lasvegassun.com)
  

  Nevada Supreme Court justices are weighing arguments in a lawsuit that seeks to remove the Nevada Board of Pharmacy from its administrative role in regulating cannabis...The ACLU of Nevada originally filed the case in 2022 on behalf of the Cannabis Equity & Inclusion Community, a nonprofit group that advocates for policies beneficial to Nevada’s legal cannabis community, in Clark County District Court arguing the pharmacy board’s classification of cannabis as a Schedule I drug was unconstitutional...District Judge Joe Hardy ruled in favor of the ACLU, determining the pharmacy board’s classification as unconstitutional, but the board appealed the decision to the state’s top court. Arguments were heard Tuesday; it’s unknown when a decision will be handed down...READ MORE

• Nevada Pharmacy Alliance Newsletter (nevadapharmacyalliance.com)
  
  • PRESIDENT'S VISION
  • NPA/NVSHP Annual Meeting Recap
  • The Opioid Summit
  • SAFE MEDICINES
  • Check out our toolkits and step-by-step guides!
  • 2023 ANNUAL AWARD RECIPIENTS
  • Upcoming Events
• Report: Nevada drops in national health rankings amid long waits, doctor shortages (thenevadaindependent.com)
  

  Despite making significant strides in reducing teenage birth rates, lowering HIV infection rates and diminishing tobacco and alcohol use among young people, Nevada has dropped seven spots in a national ranking of state health outcomes since a statewide assessment was last published in 2019...The 2022 State Health Assessment, published earlier this month, was developed in partnership between Nevada’s Division of Public and Behavioral Health and other health care entities. The report, which is updated every three to five years, is a data-driven resource outlining the state’s health care strengths and challenges and recommending priorities...READ MORE

• Systemic racism and poverty are hurting Nevadans’ health, state report finds (nevadacurrent.com)
  
  Systemic racism, lack of affordable housing, limited access to healthy food, and hard-to-get medical services are some of the biggest barriers for Nevadans to be healthy, according to a report released this month by the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health...The State Health Assessment notes that as Nevada’s population becomes increasingly diverse “systems of oppression, such as racism and classism” impact access to resources, in turn compromising  people’s health...The Nevada report mirrors many findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has declared racism a “serious threat to the public’s health.”...READ MORE

• Bans in other states leads to sharp increase in abortions in Nevada, new data suggests (nevadacurrent.com)
  

  Updated data shows the number of abortions provided in Nevada has risen 49% since 2020, suggesting that people in states with abortion bans are traveling to receive medical care...Guttmacher Institute found that states, like Nevada, that are in close proximity to states, like Idaho, where total abortion bans are in place saw much sharper increases in the number of abortions provided compared to states further away from abortion bans...In 2020, more than 113,000 abortions were performed in the 13 states that now have total bans on abortions...READ MORE

• Pharmacist-to-Technician Ratio Special Newsletter (v5.airtableusercontent.com)
  

  NPA President Dr. Kay Lynn Bowman gave a brief history of legislation surrounding the pharmacist-to-technician ratio:

  The last proposal for the Regulation to increase the ratio was heard and a survey was conducted in October 2018...From January 2019 - September 2019: Public comment was heard by the Board of Pharmacy in March, April, June and July, and a final motion for a 4:1 ratio was denied.

  COVID-19: May 5, 2020 a Partial Emergency Waiver for COVID-19 allowed for a 6:1 pharmacy technician:pharmacist ratio. Waiver ended 7/20/2022.

  Current Tech/Pharmacist Ratio is 3:1.

  In September 2022, the Nevada Board of Pharmacy was asked to adopt an emergency regulation to raise the ratio. The Board of Pharmacy determined that the situation was not an emergency but they mentioned that they may consider discussing this topic in a future board meeting...READ MORE

• Facing a nursing ‘crisis,’ Nevada lawmakers invested $20 million for nursing schools (thenevadaindependent.com)
  

  Earlier this year, Nevada lawmakers unanimously passed SB375, which allocates $20 million over the next two fiscal years to increase the number of nursing faculty and graduates at seven state nursing programs — an effort to address the state’s troubling nursing shortage..., some school leaders cautioned that main drivers of the nursing shortage — such as pay for faculty and clinical nurses and burnout among nurses — remain unaddressed...It’s also difficult to hire nursing faculty because of the lower pay and higher education requirements in academia compared to clinical settings...READ MORE

• Don’t let drug companies run Nevada’s health care industry (thenevadaindependent.com)Medication prices could be capped under proposed Nevada bill (reviewjournal.com)
  

  Members of both political parties agree that keeping life-saving prescription drug prices reasonable saves lives; however, there is an ongoing debate about the best way to accomplish this goal...For many Democrats, government-imposed price controls are the solution. This past legislative session, they passed Assembly Bill 250, which would prevent the major drug manufacturers from inflating the cost of our prescription drugs by having the government set these products’ prices...Republicans, on the other hand, argue that promoting marketplace competition is a more effective solution than more government. That’s why Gov. Joe Lombardo rightly vetoed this bill...Regardless of where one falls on the political spectrum, everyone in this state should agree that regulating away the private market entities that help restrain the drug companies’ ability to rig prices higher shouldn’t be the answer. And yet, that’s exactly what the drugmakers are telling them to do...READ MORE

• Friday Health Plans of Nevada coverage ends August 31 (nevadacurrent.com)
  

  Thousands of Nevadans who got their health insurance through Friday Health Plans of Nevada have until midnight on Aug. 31 to find a new policy...This comes after a Nevada court ordered the liquidation of the company by Sept. 1. Several states, including Nevada, placed the insurance company under receivership, a court proceeding similar to a bankruptcy...There will be a special enrollment period for existing Friday Health Plan of Nevada members to enroll in a new health insurance policy through Nevada’s Silver State Health Insurance Exchange...The special enrollment period began July 25 and ends Oct. 31. The last day to enroll without a coverage gap is Aug. 31...READ MORE

• Thousands of Nevadans’ health coverage in limbo as Friday Health Plans placed in receivership (nevadacurrent.com)
  

  Nevada Insurance Commissioner Scott Kipper filed for regulatory supervision of Friday Health Plans of Nevada, which has over 2,800 individuals in the state, after the company announced last week that it will “wind down…business operations.”...“Unfortunately, Friday has been unable to scale our financial infrastructure to match the pace of our growth and secure the additional capital required to run our business,” the company said in a statement on its website last week. “While we are deeply disappointed, we agree with the decision of our State regulators that it is necessary to wind down Friday’s business operations over time in accordance with the regulations in the states where we are operating.”...READ MORE

• Nevada Pharmacy Alliance Newsletter June 2023 (v5.airtableusercontent.com)
  

  President's Address
  Legislative Priorities
  Access to Safe Medicines
  Newsletter
  Highlights
  Pharmacy Day at Capital Hill
  Awards and Nominations
  Upcoming Events
  Bowl of Hygeia Winners

• After nationwide deal, Teva reaches $193M opioid settlement with holdout Nevada (fiercepharma.com)Nevada reaches $193M settlement in latest opioid lawsuit (reviewjournal.com)
  

  When Teva proposed its sweeping $4.25 billion opioid settlement to resolve thousands of claims across the country, all U.S. states except for Nevada and New Mexico jumped on board. Now, the company has worked out a separate $193 million deal with one of the holdouts...Under the deal, the generics giant will make annual payments to Nevada on a sliding scale starting next July and lasting through July 2043. The payouts will start at $7 million and rise to $9 million through 2037, then increase to $27 million in 2042...The cash will be divvied between Nevada and members of the One Nevada Agreement on Allocation of Opioid Recoveries, a group formed to distribute opioid-related funds to local governments...READ MORE

• Las Vegas, Las Vegas Strip Have An Unexpected Cannabis Problem (thestreet.com)Nevada cannabis lounges stoke DUI fears as fatal crashes rise (reviewjournal.com)
  

  When Nevada legalized recreational cannabis, people expected the normal array of problems as Las Vegas tourists over-indulged...Legalized cannabis, however, has come with its own set of unique problems. First and foremost casino operators including the Las Vegas Strip's biggest operators...Since they're regulated by federal law, casino operators can't house dispensaries or Las Vegas's newly-approved cannabis lounges. That means that people not only have to leave their Strip or downtown resort in order to buy marijuana, but they also have to leave to legally smoke it...that quirk in the law keeps tourists from smoking and driving. That could change later this year when new rules allow dispensaries like Planet 13 to add consumption lounges to their locations...READ MORE

• All Nevada counties will see proceeds from opioid settlements (thenevadaindependent.com)
  

  After receiving more than $320 million so far from settlements with opioid companies, the state has created a process to divide it across all Nevada counties...the attorney general’s office debriefed members of the Assembly Committee on Revenue on the One Nevada Agreement on Allocation of Opioid Recoveries...“We included all counties — whether or not they were litigating or non-litigating — so that they all are receiving something because frankly, this opioid epidemic does not care about county lines or city lines,” said Chief Deputy Attorney General Mark Krueger...One of the more recent settlements was $32 million the state received through opioid litigation with Walmart...READ MORE

• State board reports hundreds of pending Nevada MD complaints (apnews.com)Some Nevada Medical Board investigations dragging on for seven years, records show (mynews4.com)
  

  KRNV-TV reported...that in response to a public records request, the board said it has 455 pending cases, including three on hold since 2016 because police also are investigating...Medical Board Executive Director Ed Cousineau told KRNV-TV that staffing issues can make it difficult to complete investigations in a timely manner...But Reno attorney Julie Throop said delays of seven years can make it too late for attorneys to use board findings in court...KRNV-TV said records showed 301 pending complaints filed against doctors last year and 140 unresolved since 2019. It found eight outstanding complaints from 2018 and three from 2017...READ MORE

• Union blasts staffing levels at HCA hospitals in Nevada, nationwide (8newsnow.com)
  

  Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center - Greg Haas

  A union report that blasts “systemic low staffing” at HCA hospitals nationwide says that staffing levels at HCA’s Nevada hospitals is 34% lower than the national average...That’s putting patients in danger, the union said...Nationwide, HCA hospitals are staffed 30% below the national average, the report said. The report is based on Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data released in 2021...Now, nurses are calling on HCA to raise staffing levels, improve pay and prioritize higher-quality patient care...READ MORE

• Ex-Sparks fire chief facing drug charges demands job back (apnews.com)
  

  Mark Lawson

  The former Sparks fire chief accused of illegal possession and distribution of steroids says he never gave his resignation and wants to be reinstated...Mark Lawson’s lawyers said in a letter sent to Sparks officials this week he should be returned to his role and placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of his criminal case...They said Lawson maintains his innocence and threatened to file a civil lawsuit alleging he was “condemned, terminated and tried in the public” before criminal charges had been filed. But he is confident the criminal complaint will be dismissed...READ MORE

   

• Former Sparks fire chief Mark Lawson faces 4 felony drug charges (rgj.com)Former Nevada correctional officer, former Sparks Fire chief face steroid-related felony charges (kunr.org)
  

  Mark Lawson

  Four felony drug charges were announced Friday against Mark Lawson after he resigned Monday as Sparks fire chief...The charges include possession of a controlled substance and sale of a controlled substance...A co-defendant listed in the case is Lance Forrester. As recently as 2020, Forrester was employed as a correctional officer with the state, according to Transparent Nevada...Arraignment is set for Jan. 31 in Sparks Justice Court...The charges seemed to take the city of Sparks by surprise. Lawson’s hiring was approved by the Sparks City Council on Nov. 28 with pay of $200,000 plus benefits...READ MORE

• The Lack of Adderall Is Having an Impact on Northern Nevada (thenevadaglobe.com)Adderall and amoxicillin shortages raise questions about transparency in Big Pharma (news.yahoo.com)
  

  Our Northern Nevada pharmacies are being impacted by the countrywide Adderall shortage...According to Quest Counseling, a local mental health clinic, they haven’t had to inform anyone that they can’t fill their prescription, but the scarcity has affected how long it takes to have them filled. That means consumers must search for pharmacies that have it, which may be a time-consuming procedure...“We have our APRN coordinator who’s handling that for patients and it’s very time consuming,” said Amanda Brock with Quest Counseling. “Sometimes they’re calling 10 pharmacies per patient and, with 200 patients, do the math on that. It’s a lot of legwork.”...The shortfall may be more more difficult for people on Medicaid...READ MORE

• Nevada establishes overdose task force amid spike in substance misuse, fentanyl overdoses (thenevadaindependent.com)
  

  Steve Sisolak, Governor Nevada

  Amid an increase in fatal and non-fatal overdoses — including many caused by fentanyl misuse — Gov. Steve Sisolak and state health officials are creating a statewide task force focused on reducing and responding to the issue...The Joint Advisory Task Force will determine how to reduce the risk of overdose, prepare the state and local jurisdictions if overdoses increase, and provide technical assistance, guidance and resources to lower risk, as well as improve overdose response and recovery...Read More

• Can UNLV’s long-awaited $125 million medical school building solve Nevada’s physician shortage? (thenevadaindependent.com)
  

  Kirk Kerkorian Medical Education Building at UNLV

  After years of fits and starts...the red ribbon was cut, and the Kirk Kerkorian Medical Education Building at UNLV was finally complete...The $125 million, 135,000-square-foot building — located just blocks away from the university’s existing medical campus and a pair of hospitals — has been billed as a critical medical infrastructure investment for the region, long plagued by severe physician shortages...But in the end, it was neither UNLV nor the Nevada System of Higher Education that shepherded the project over the finish line. It was a private company, the Nevada Health and Bioscience Corporation...READ MORE

• Nevada gov. announces digital prescription discount card (apnews.com)
  

  Nevada’s governor...said the state is launching a prescription discount card, a method of softening the rising costs of medications that is also used in Washington and Oregon...The digital card, called ArrayRX, saves an average of 80% on generic prescriptions and up to 20% on brand name drugs and is free for Nevadans, Governor Steve Sisolak said. For those without health insurance, the card is set to lower costs significantly...Those with health insurance will be able to compare their costs with ArrayRX, and can opt for whichever option is cheaper...READ MORE

• Nevada trooper stop nets $3.6M in fentanyl, arrest near Utah (apnews.com)
  

  Nevada state police arrested a Washington state man and seized 56 pounds of suspected fentanyl with an estimated street value of $3.6 million from a vehicle a trooper stopped near the Utah line...Jorge A. Rivas-Vizcarra, 50, of Royal City was being held on multiple drug charges...in the White Pine County Jail in Ely where his bail was set at $750,000...He was arrested Monday after a traffic stop on U.S Highway 93 about 20 miles north of Ely...READ MORE

• Advocates win a lawsuit to remove cannabis from the Schedule 1 drug list (thenevadaindependent.com)
  

  After more than two decades of violating state law, the Nevada Board of Pharmacy must remove cannabis from a list of controlled substances deemed to be highly abused, a Clark County District Court judge ruled...The order followed a lawsuit brought forward in April by the Cannabis, Equity and Inclusion Community on behalf of Antoine Poole, a Las Vegas resident who was convicted of felony possession of a controlled substance for marijuana in 2017. The conviction occurred the same year recreational marijuana use became legal in Nevada...READ MORE

• Nevada State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter July 2022 (bop.nv.gov)
  

  MenACWY 12th Grade Requirement
  What Is the Meningococcal Vaccine and Why Is It Important?
  What Does This Mean for Nevada?
  What Does This Mean for Pharmacists?
  12th Grade MenACWY Vaccination Requirement Resources

• New medical center designed for, staffed by Las Vegas’ Asian community members (thenevadaindependent.com)
  

  Vida Lin, President and Founder of the Asian Community Development Council

  ...a new medical center in Las Vegas is hoping to eliminate similar language barriers and other obstacles that members of the Asian American Pacific Islander community face in accessing health care...The Healthy Asian & Pacific Islander Medical Center is the Asian Community Development Council’s latest effort to improve the general well-being and education of this community in Nevada, and advocate on their behalf...The center is something that Vida Lin, the nonprofit’s founder and president, felt has been missing since she moved to Las Vegas from California almost 30 years ago...READ MORE

• More than 600 providers impacted by ransomware attack on payment vendor (fiercehealthcare.com)
  

  A payment vendor was hit with a ransomware attack back in February that may have exposed patient data from more than 600 healthcare providers and organizations...Professional Finance Company...detected and stopped a sophisticated ransomware attack in which an unauthorized third party accessed and disabled some of PFC’s computer systems...During an ongoing investigation, it was determined that hackers accessed files containing certain individuals' personal information...the company is one of the nation’s leading debt recovery agencies, and its client list includes many healthcare providers, retailers, financial organizations and government agencies...The ransomware attack hit company computer systems that held data from clients such as Banner Health, Lifestance Health, Renown Health, DispatchHealth and hundreds of other provider customers...READ MORE

• Nevada pharmacists allowed to prescribe Pfizer’s COVID-19 pill (reviewjournal.com)FDA is letting pharmacists prescribe Pfizer's Paxlovid but won't do the same for Merck's Lagevrio (fiercepharma.com)
  

  ...the U.S. Food and Drug Administration took the unusual step of authorizing pharmacists to directly prescribe antiviral medication Paxlovid to patients testing positive for COVID-19...But don’t expect to get a prescription right away from your neighborhood pharmacist for the pills...Major pharmacy chains and a state regulatory agency said Friday that they’re continuing to work with the FDA on how to best implement the change, including whether any new costs will be passed on to patients. Although the details still need to be worked out, the change was applauded by the industry...“I’m elated,” said Christina Madison, an associate professor at the College of Pharmacy at Roseman University in Southern Nevada...The change eliminates a barrier to getting treatment, especially in rural areas and “medical deserts” where a pharmacy is “the only place a person can get medical information for miles,” she said...READ MORE

• Sisolak signs order protecting those seeking access to abortion (thenevadaindependent.com)
  

  Gov. Steve Sisolak signed an executive order...implementing protections for anyone seeking or providing abortion services or other reproductive health care within the Silver State...The order arrives after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a 50-year-old constitutional right to abortion last week and seeks to provide refuge for those seeking such services. It also addresses the adoption of laws by other states that have imposed civil or criminal liability for those who seek abortions...“Reproductive health care is a basic human right, and Nevada stands firm in its commitment to ensuring there is safe and equitable access for Nevadans and anyone seeking refuge from the restrictive laws in their state,” Sisolak said in a press release...“No one should be punished for providing or receiving necessary medical care, including abortions, contraception and other reproductive health care services.”...READ MORE

• US judge keeps Nevada execution challenge alive, for now (apnews.com)
  

  Zane Michael Floyd

  A federal judge declined Monday to either decide or dismiss a condemned Nevada killer’s lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state plan for what would its first lethal injection in more than 16 years...U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware II left open Zane Michael Floyd’s case — at least for now — and set an Oct. 11 date for attorneys representing Floyd and the state to return to court in Las Vegas...The judge said he might still close the matter in coming weeks for what he termed “mootness,” since state prison officials testified that they do not have the drugs they would need to conduct an execution. The prison supply of the sedative ketamine expired Feb. 28, and officials said they’ve had trouble procuring more...READ MORE

   

• Nevada Pharmacy Alliance Newsletter – June 2022 (dl.airtable.com)
  
• COVID-19 Federal probe of COVID testing company with stunning error rate expands to Nevada (thisisreno.com)
  

  Federal authorities are expanding an investigation into Chicago-based Northshore Clinical Labs following a ProPublica story that raised questions about its COVID-19 testing operations in Nevada...an investigator with the Inspector General’s Office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services indicated he planned to subpoena documents from Nevada health officials...“Myself and other law enforcement agencies have had a case opened regarding Northshore Clinical Lab for quite some time,” wrote Special Agent Peter Theiler, who is based in Chicago. “After reading the ProPublica article on Northshore Clinical Lab regarding Nevada patients, we are interested in obtaining records related to testing for COVID-19 for Northshore Clinical Lab rapid test results and PCR test results for Nevada.”...READ MORE

• Workplace Wellbeing in Nevada – How Are We Doing and Where Do We Go From Here? (dl.airtable.com)Pharmacy Workplace and Well-being Reporting (PWWR) PWWR Report II February 2022 (s3.amazonaws.com)Ability of the Well-Being Index to identify pharmacists in distress (japha.org)
  

  Are you feeling distressed at work?...The results are in and they are not good. In a nationwide study it shows that Nevada ranks as the state with the highest distress level for pharmacy professionals (APhA)...That is not a number that we should be proud of...READ MORE

• ‘Superbug’ outbreaks reported at Nevada hospitals, nursing facilities (reviewjournal.com)Nevada hospitals with ‘superbug’ outbreaks identified (yournews.com)
  

  State and federal health authorities are investigating ongoing outbreaks at Nevada hospitals and nursing homes of a drug-resistant “superbug” that can lead to serious illness and even death...As of mid-April, the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services has been investigating outbreaks of a fungus called Candida auris at acute-care hospitals, long-term acute-care hospitals and skilled nursing facilities, according to a technical bulletin sent by the state to health care providers...READ MORE

• Las Vegas contracted with lab at center of COVID test investigation (reviewjournal.com)A politically connected testing company had contracts across Nevada. Its tests didn’t work. (thenevadaindependent.com)Sisolak calls COVID testing company’s actions ‘despicable,’ defends response (thenevadaindependent.com)
  

  The city of Las Vegas contracted with Northshore Clinical Labs to provide limited COVID-19 testing early this year, a city representative said this week...“This was when demand for testing was at its highest levels, and the city was trying to help meet that demand,” city representative Jace Radke said in an email. “The city has not entered into any other contracts with Northshore Clinical Labs, and is no longer affiliated with the company.”...Northshore was the target of a ProPublica investigation that revealed...the lab’s tests frequently gave inaccurate results. A test by the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory found a false-negative rate of 96 percent, meaning that Northshore’s test had missed nearly all positive cases in the sampling...READ MORE

• US judge: Nevada inmate’s execution challenge may be moot (apnews.com)
  

  Zane Michael Floyd

  A federal judge in Las Vegas said Monday he’ll decide in three weeks whether to dismiss a condemned Nevada killer’s lawsuit challenging the state’s plan for his lethal injection, because the state doesn’t have one of the drugs it would use...U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware II acknowledged during a brief hearing with attorneys for the state and the inmate, Zane Michael Floyd, that key questions about the execution method remain unanswered following weeks of testimony late last year...But the Nevada Department of Corrections supply of the sedative ketamine expired on Feb. 28, and Randall Gilmer, chief deputy state attorney general, said prison officials have been unable to get more...READ MORE

• Nevada Board of Pharmacy April Newsletter 2022 (bop.nv.gov)
  

  Self-Administered Hormonal Contraceptives Dispensed Without a Prescription

  Senate Bill (SB) 190 was passed during the 2021 legislative session. The language to the bill can be located here. SB 190 permits a pharmacist to dispense a self-administered hormonal contraceptive to a patient under a protocol established by regulation by the Nevada State Board of Pharmacy without a prescription from a practitioner.

  Nevada Medicaid Fee-for-Service Transition of Pharmacy Benefits Management to Magellan Medicaid Administration, Inc

  On July 1, 2022, Magellan Medicaid Administration, Inc, (MMA) will assume the administrative operation of pharmacy benefits management on behalf of the state of Nevada Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Health Care Financing and Policy for the Nevada Medicaid fee-for-service...READ MORE

• Ask Your Representative to Co-Sponsor New Provider Status Legislation (nevadapharmacyalliance.com)H. R. 7213 (congress.gov)ASHP Applauds Introduction of Equitable Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act (ashp.org)Reps. Carter, Kind, McKinley, and Barragán Introduce the Bipartisan Equitable Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act (buddycarter.house.gov)
  

  REPRESENTATIVE EARL "BUDDY" CARTER, Pharmacist

  The Equitable Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act (H.R. 7213) is legislation to help ensure that patients can receive point-of-service testing, treatment, and vaccine services provided by pharmacists for COVID-19, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, and strep throat. ASHP, as an executive committee member of the Future of Pharmacy Care Coalition, is working aggressively to secure congressional support for H.R. 7213. You can help by sending an email to your representative asking them to co-sponsor the bill. Personalize the email provided in ASHP’s online advocacy center with examples from your practice that demonstrate your critical role on the healthcare team...READ MORE

• Nevadans sign petition urging Congress to lower prescription drug prices (mynews4.com)NV Senator Jacky Rosen co-sponsors bill to lower prescription drug prices for seniors (msn.com)
  

  The petition, going to Senator Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, pleads Congress to take action...Both Senators have cosponsored legislation to cap out-of-pocket insulin costs at $35...Senators Cortez Masto and Rosen also support giving Medicare more power to negotiate drug prices, and they are pushing for penalties that would keep drug companies from increasing prices faster than the rate of inflation..."I've seen it in my own family with my grandmother who had to make the decision whether she could put food on the table or pay for her drugs," said Senator Cortez Masto. "She was living off of Social Security after she retired. No senior, nobody should have to go through that."...READ MORE

• Business News: ACLU sues state over cannabis classification (thisisreno.com)
  

  Cannabis is illegal federally – classified as a Schedule I controlled substance – but even state law, despite cannabis being legal to use in Nevada, maintains cannabis as a Schedule I drug alongside methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine...The Nevada State Board of Pharmacy continues to list cannabis as a Schedule I substance, and that listing prompted a lawsuit this week by the ACLU of Nevada seeking to get cannabis removed from the list...“For cannabis to be classified as a Schedule I substance, the Board of Pharmacy must find that it has no accepted medical use in treatment or it cannot be safely distributed to the public,” ACLU representatives said. “However, the Nevada Constitution explicitly allows for the ‘use by a patient, upon the advice of his physician, of a plant of the genus Cannabis for the treatment or alleviation of cancer, glaucoma, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome… or other chronic or debilitating medical conditions.’”...The ACLU alleges the pharmacy board’s classification continues to waste taxpayer dollars by continuing criminal convictions against those using and possessing cannabis...READ MORE

• AG Ford, local officials hopeful opioid settlement funds will remediate crisis (thenevadaindependent.com)
  

  Attorney General Aaron Ford

  Attorney General Aaron Ford joined representatives from the state health department and several local governments...to announce that Nevada will soon receive its first installment of money from a pair of major opioid settlements and to highlight the urgency of using those dollars to address the opioid crisis...the state will receive $50 million from two settlements announced by the attorney general’s office earlier this year. The settlements include one with opioid manufacturer Johnson & Johnson that will bring Nevada $53.5 million and another with three of the nation’s largest drug distributors — AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson — that will bring the state $231.7 million. Those funds add to the $45 million the state won last year through a settlement with consulting firm McKinsey & Company...READ MORE

• Nevada Supreme Court rules against disclosure of records from diabetes drug manufacturers (thenevadaindependent.com)
  

  The Nevada Supreme Court ruled...that the state’s public records law does not require the disclosure of drug pricing information that could violate a federal trade secrets law, affirming a lower court ruling...Weighing laws and regulations that allow businesses to keep competitive records confidential, the court’s order limits the public release of information on high insulin prices, including the cost of producing diabetes drugs, administrative expenses and profits reaped by drug companies...The dispute over drug transparency records stems from a 2017 law...The statute required diabetes drug manufacturers and other companies involved in pricing, known as pharmacy benefit managers, to disclose information about pricing for insulin...READ MORE

• Northern Nevada Sierra Medical Center: Reno’s newest hospital on track for spring opening (rgj.com)
  

  Sister hospital to Northern Nevada Medical Center is the first new full-service hospital to open in the city of Reno in more than a century...Nearly two-and-a-half years since breaking ground, Reno’s newest full-service hospital is on track for a spring opening...Northern Nevada Sierra Medical Center received its certificate of occupancy on Friday, which means it can now start moving equipment into the hospital...The facility...will add 170 hospital beds to an area that has seen strong growth...To commemorate the latest milestone in the project, the center is holding a pre-opening event this Monday for select guests...READ MORE

• Prisoners overcharged for supplies behind bars, NDOC audit reveals (reviewjournal.com)State of Nevada Governor's Finance Office Division of Internal Audits (budget.nv.gov)
  

  A new internal state audit raps the Department of Corrections for overcharging prisoners on supplies and medical co-pays, high overtime costs in the director’s office during the pandemic, and lax oversight on how it assigns state-owned vehicles to staff...Citing an outstanding $10 million debt owed by released prisoners for charges such as court fees and medical costs, the auditors recommended setting “a reasonable medical co-pay” for inmates. The department now charges $8, more than twice the national average of $3.47, auditors found. In its audit response, the department said it would propose dropping the copay to $2...READ MORE

• Damning allegations emerge in wake of Renown CEO’s firing (thisisreno.com)Renown fires CEO Anthony Slonim after nearly 8-year tenure (rgj.com)
  

  Tony Slonim, former CEO Renown Health

  Multiple sources confirmed with This Is Reno there are numerous allegations facing Renown and the hospital’s now former-CEO Tony Slonim. Slonim was fired for cause...as part of an investigation...Allegations range from sexual harassment, unethical behavior by top executives, financial mismanagement and an organizational culture rife with dysfunction and employee mistreatment. The investigation has not concluded, two sources said...READ MORE

• Indy Explains: How Nevada’s new prescription drug savings program works (thenevadaindependent.com)ArrayRx (arrayrxsolutions.com)
  

  Nevadans will soon be able to save big on prescription drugs after the state joined a coalition that negotiates lower drug costs, according to the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services...Last month, Gov. Steve Sisolak announced that Nevada will join Oregon and Washington in the Northwest Prescription Drug Consortium, a partnership that allows residents to use drug discount cards to purchase prescription drugs at lower costs. The consortium rebranded to ArrayRx in 2021...It is expected that the drug discount card program could cut the cost of generic drugs by 80 percent and by up to 20 percent on name-brand drugs...READ MORE

• Nevada emphasizes therapeutics as new COVID-19 cases plummet (apnews.com)
  

  As Nevada’s COVID-19 case rates plummet to their lowest levels since last summer, state health officials are turning more attention to therapeutic treatments for those who can’t get vaccinated or are most at risk of severe illness or death...It’s the latest step in the evolution of a nearly two-year effort to combat the virus after the omicron variant pushed caseloads to new highs in January, said Julia Peek, deputy administrator for Nevada’s Division of Public and Behavioral Health. It comes as governments across the country lift restrictions and move away from emergency measures...READ MORE

• Zane Floyd execution on hold, key lethal drug will expire amid appeals (thenevadaindependent.com)

  State officials and lawyers representing death row inmate Zane Floyd agreed that an execution of the convicted quadruple killer will not happen before a key drug in the state’s lethal injection protocol expires at the end of the month — putting the matter on hold for the foreseeable future...Their statements in federal court on Monday come after the Clark County district attorney’s office did not obtain an execution warrant by Feb. 13, the latest possible day to obtain a warrant and order for a Feb. 28 execution date...READ MORE

• Time expiring on Nevada plan for first execution since 2006 (apnews.com)
  

  Zane Michael Floyd

  Time is running out on a bid by prosecutors and Nevada prison officials to carry out the first execution in the state in almost 16 years, with hearings unfinished in federal court in Las Vegas and decisions pending before the state Supreme Court...One of several drugs that would be used for convicted mass killer Zane Michael Floyd’s lethal injection is due to expire Feb. 28, and because state law calls for two weeks’ notice to schedule an execution...READ MORE

• Official: Doctors in Nevada execution plan want names secret (apnews.com)
  

  Nevada Department of Corrections - execution chamber at Ely State Prison

  Two physicians enlisted to oversee what would be Nevada’s first execution since 2006 don’t ever want to be identified publicly, state officials told a federal judge...Prison officials want to use a never-before-tried combination of three or four drugs to execute Zane Michael Floyd by lethal injection, including the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl and the anesthetic ketamine...The 46-year-old Floyd, who was was convicted in 2000 of killing four people and wounding a fifth in a 1999 shotgun attack at a Las Vegas grocery store, does not want to die and has several cases that could delay or stop his execution pending in court...His attorneys have asked U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware II to require the state to provide information about the professional qualifications of any doctors, emergency medical technicians and intravenous injection administrators involved in the execution...READ MORE

• Nevada State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter to Promote Pharmacy and Drug Law Compliance (bop.nv.gov)
  

  Electronic Prescribing Mandate for Controlled SubstancesNevada Revised Statutes (NRS) 639.23535 requires that all controlled substance (CS) prescriptions must be transmitted to a pharmacy by electronic prescribing (e-prescribing). While NRS 639.23535 took effect on January 1, 2021, the Nevada State Board of Pharmacy provided an exemption for practitioners by regulation.The law mandated that this exemption would expire on December 31, 2021...READ MORE

• Nevada enlisting nursing students for hospital staff crisis (apnews.com)
  

  Governor Steve Sisolak

  With Nevada hospitals reporting a staffing “crisis” and health officials reporting COVID-19 patient tallies at pandemic highs, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak highlighted a program...to enlist nursing students to help meet the demand for medical providers...“The state continues to work with all of our partners to leverage existing resources and break down barriers so Nevadans in need can access care,” the governor...said on a day that health officials reported what Dr. John Hess, a University of Nevada School of Medicine associate faculty member, called a “challenging time” with case counts “incredibly high right now.”...READ MORE

• Nevada hospitals request state aid as virus strains staffing (apnews.com)
  

  Hospitals throughout Nevada are facing twin challenges as beds fill with COVID-19 patients and staff falls ill from the highly contagious omicron variant...“Nevada is experiencing an abrupt increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations, predominantly in the southern region following the holidays. People are flocking to hospital emergency departments seeking COVID-19 testing, compounding the staffing problem,” they said, describing the second week of January...“Hospitals are not over-run by a COVID-19 surge as much as being understaffed as employees in all fields report being sick and unable to work. This is also further compounded by a significant increase in people coming to the emergency department solely for testing. Hospitals are not testing sites,” the Nevada Hospital Association said...READ MORE

• Attorney General Aaron Ford announces Nevada to join opiod settlement (reviewjournal.com)Nevada to receive $285 million in latest round of opioid settlements (thenevadaindependent.com)
  

  Attorney General Aaron Ford

  Attorney General Aaron Ford announced Thursday that Nevada would join a multi-state opiod settlement with drugmakers and distributors...Ford said that the state would receive around $285 million through a pair of settlements...Last year, Ford announced a $45 million settlement against one company involved in the opioid litigation. The lawsuit is being handled on a contingency fee basis for the state by Eglet Prince, the law firm where Ford worked as a private attorney before being elected attorney general in 2018. Ford, however, recused himself from the selection process...Ford in August announced that Nevada would opt out of a $26 billion multi-state settlement...READ MORE

• Pill for treating COVID at home comes to Nevada, but in short supply (reviewjournal.com)
  

  The first pill authorized in the U.S. for treating COVID-19 at home will initially be offered in Nevada primarily to patients in long-term care and skilled nursing facilities because of scarce supplies...The remainder, less than 10 percent of the state’s initial allotment of Pfizer’s antiviral medication Paxlovid, has been given to University Medical Center in Las Vegas and to Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno, members of the Nevada State Board of Pharmacy said...The drug’s authorization is “hands down, next to the vaccine, the most significant milestone in the pandemic,” said Dr. Shadaba Asad, the medical director of infectious disease at UMC...Supplies of the Pfizer pill currently are extremely limited across the country. Nevada’s initial supplies are enough to treat 480 patients, with allocations expected to grow as production ramps up, pharmacy board executive secretary David Wuest said...READMORE

• Nevada defends untested lethal injection plan as drugs near expiration (thenevadaindependent.com)
  

  Zane Michael Floyd

  State corrections officials told a federal judge last week that they’re quickly running out time before a crucial lethal injection drug proposed for use in the execution of death row inmate Zane Floyd will expire...Nevada Department of Corrections Director Charles Daniels said in federal court that his chief concern with carrying out the execution is that the necessary drugs would expire before the state could proceed with its execution plan.His testimony followed days of hearings last week, during which medical experts called by the state made the case that the state’s proposed drug cocktail, never before used in carrying out a death sentence, would result in a painless death for Floyd...“My understanding is that it would be less painful than other methods,” said Daniel Buffington, a clinical pharmacologist who works at the University of South Florida. “It would reduce the individual's anxiety… It would be quick.”...
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• Nevada prisons chief testifies about execution drugs, protocol (reviewjournal.com)Nevada prisons chief would halt execution over complications (apnews.com)
  

  Nevada Department of Corrections - execution chamber at Ely State Prison

  Nevada Department of Corrections Director Charles Daniels testified...that of all the potential complications from death row inmate Zane Floyd’s proposed execution, he is most concerned about the state’s drug supply...“My primary concern, quite frankly, is that all the necessary pharmaceuticals will expire,” Daniels told U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware...State law authorizes Daniels to plan and carry out execution protocols. While he is required to consult with Nevada’s chief medical officer about the drugs the state plans to use, the officials do not have to come to an agreement...Floyd was sentenced to die for fatally shooting four people and gravely wounding another in a Las Vegas grocery store more than two decades ago. He also was convicted of repeatedly raping a woman before the shooting...READ MORE

• Nevada confirms 2nd case of omicron variant of coronavirus (apnews.com)
  

  Nevada health officials have confirmed the state’s second confirmed case of the coronavirus caused by the highly transmissible omicron variant, this time in a rural county...The second case was found in Churchill County in northern Nevada and involved an unvaccinated woman in her mid-40s, according to the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory...READ MORE

• Student denied emergency relief in Nevada vaccination suit (lasvegassun.com)
  

  A college student who argues he’s immune from COVID-19 because he was previously infected has lost his bid for an emergency court order that would have allowed him to register for classes while he presses his federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of UNR's mandatory vaccination policy...A U.S district judge from California...said in denying the temporary restraining order sought by 18-year-old Jacob Gold that he’s failed to establish a fundamental constitutional right to refuse vaccination...Gold claims that because he recovered from COVID-19, he has immunity superior to students who’ve been vaccinated and it is statistically impossible for a shot to benefit him...READMORE

• Nevada implements insurance surcharge on unvaccinated state workers (lasvegassun.com)
  

  Nevada has become the first state to implement a health care premium surcharge on some 5,000 state employees not vaccinated against COVID-19 starting in July 2022...The Nevada Public Employees’ Benefits Program, which manages the health program for 43,000 members and 27,000 dependents across the state, approved a policy...to charge state employees $55 a month plus $175 a month for any unvaccinated dependents over the age of 18 unless they provide a legitimate health or religious exemption by the end of the open enrollment period, which will be assessed July 2022...The policy will help cover the costs of COVID-19 testing and hospitalizations associated with unvaccinated members, Laura Rich, executive officer of the Nevada Public Employees’ Benefits Program (PEBP), said...READ MORE

• Unintentional catalyst spurred donor effort for UNLV med school building (reviewjournal.com)
  

  Philanthropist Kris Engelstad McGarry, of The Engelstad Foundation

  Kris Engelstad McGarry has made no secret of her difficult relationship with the Nevada System of Higher Education’s Board of Regents...“It’s probably the only time you’ll hear me say this, but I have the regents to thank for it,” McGarry, trustee of the Engelstad Foundation...said. “Had they not been so difficult, we would never have found the necessity to go ahead and...do it on our own.”...The Nevada Health and Bioscience Corporation was established in 2019...The approximately 135,000-square-foot building, on Shadow Lane in Las Vegas...is ahead of schedule and expected to open in June 2022...A notable result of the new process has been a faster process without bureaucracy...“It was wonderful to work with the corporation because they could make decisions, and make them quickly and move quickly,” Atkinson, the former dean, said. “They did all the same things that the state would have done, but the state would have taken much longer to actually get it all accomplished...“I don’t think anybody but a private corporation could have actually incorporated it all and got it done so quickly,” she added...READ MORE

• Jury: UnitedHealth must pay TeamHealth $60M in damages in Nevada case (fiercehealthcare.com)
  

  A Nevada jury has awarded TeamHealth $60 million in punitive damages as part of an ongoing legal spat between the physician staffing firm and health insurance giant UnitedHealthcare... jury ruled late last month that the insurer underpaid emergency physicians at three TeamHealth affiliates in the state and at the time awarded $2.65 million in compensatory damages...Nine additional, similar lawsuits are pending in other states, and TeamHealth is expecting the Nevada results to drive momentum in those other cases...“Today’s ruling that United must pay $60 million in punitive damages sets a critical precedent that large health insurers can’t underpay frontline doctors for lifesaving care,” said TeamHealth President and CEO Leif Murphy in a statement. “We look forward to continuing the fight against United in nine future cases that will be decided on the same set of facts.”...

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• Gov. Sisolak proclaims a week to honor Nevada health care workers (reviewjournal.com)
  

  Governor Steve Sisolak

  ...Gov. Steve Sisolak delivered a bouquet of flowers to Las Vegas nurse practitioner Geoconda Hughes...In this manner, the governor launched a slate of events during what he called “Health Care Week in Nevada” aimed at recognizing Nevadans who work in medicine and raising community awareness of their efforts. The events also provide an opportunity, he said, to learn more about the problems facing health care workers and possible solutions to their workplace challenges...READ MORE

• Death row inmate’s attorneys oppose lethal drug plan, want firing squad (thenevadaindependent.com)
  

  Execution Chamber at Ely State Prison

  With a crucial drug in the state’s supply of lethal injection materials set to expire at the end of February, Nevada officials are pressing forward in their attempt to execute death row inmate Zane Floyd, even as lawyers for Floyd are imploring the court to explore alternative methods, such as a firing squad...The experts, including multiple anesthesiologists who have experience with the drugs involved in the protocol, testified that the untried drug cocktail could result in suffering or an agonizing death...READ MORE

• Report rank10 most cost-efficient hospitals in the U.S., identifies $8B in potential Medicare savings (fiercehealthcare.com)
  

  A new ranking of the 10 most cost-efficient hospitals in the U.S. reveals that if all hospitals matched their performance, $8 billion could be saved in Medicare dollars...The ranking, conducted by healthcare think tank Lown Institute , was based on Medicare data from 2016 through 2018 on more than 3,000 hospitals focusing on what they billed and how many patients died. For the analysis, it adjusted both mortality rates and cost based on patient risk...Here are the 10 most cost-efficient hospitals in the U.S., according to the Lown Institute:

  Pinnacle Hospital (Crown Point, Indiana)

  Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center (Reno, Nevada)

  Mercy Medical Center Dubuque (Dubuque, Iowa)

  Encino Hospital Medical Center (Encino, California)

  Park Ridge Health (Hendersonville, North Carolina)

  Oroville Hospital (Oroville, California)

  Saint Michael’s Medical Center (Newark, New Jersey)

  UnityPoint Health – Meriter (Madison, Wisconsin)

  East Liverpool City Hospital (East Liverpool, Ohio)

  Maple Grove Hospital (Maple Grove, Minnesota)

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• Nevada tells US judge execution delay risks drugs expiring (apnews.com)
  

  A state attorney asked a federal judge Friday for a quick hearing and ruling about the constitutionality of Nevada’s execution procedure, saying a drug that officials want to use for condemned killer Zane Floyd’s lethal injection will expire in late February...“We need to continue to expedite this case,” Chief Deputy Nevada Attorney General Randall Gilmer told the judge, who plans at least three days of hearings this month and possibly more next month amid challenges by Floyd’s attorneys of the method, the personnel and the drugs that would be used to kill him...Floyd, a convicted mass killer, is fighting on several fronts to avoid becoming the first Nevada inmate put to death in 15 years...READ MORE

• Charity promising $11M in grants to rural Nevada hospitals (apnews.com)
  

  A charity that funds programs to expand access to emergency medical care for people in remote areas announced...it will make grants to upgrade technology at several rural Nevada hospitals...The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust said it will provide grants totaling $11.3 million to hospitals in towns including Caliente, Ely, Incline Village, Lovelock and Yerington to buy diagnostic and radiology equipment like CT scanners and X-ray devices...Walter Panzirer, a Helmsley Charitable Trust representative...said the aim is to provide access to the same equipment found in urban centers to patients at rural hospitals...READ MORE

• Vaccine mandates: Tracking the policies put in place by private, public entities (thenevadaindependent.com)Higher education employee COVID vaccination rate jumps to 75 percent ahead of planned mandate (thenevadaindependent.com)
  

  Businesses with 100 or more employees will be required to mandate vaccination or weekly testing for their workers under a new rule announced by President Joe Biden...But many Nevada businesses and public institutions have already put their own employee vaccine mandates in place, with more in the works as the federal government finalizes the new rule and fleshes out its finer points. Some have gone further by requiring vaccinations not just for employees but as a condition of entry for members of the public, including at conventions, athletic events and concerts...At the same time, some rural governments have passed resolutions banning vaccine mandates to varying degrees...READ MORE

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