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A recent study identified pharmacy-level barriers to treatment for opioid use disorder in rural areas, indicating a need for policy changes regarding buprenorphine access and monitoring...The case study, published in the International Journal of Drug Policy, looked at buprenorphine dispensing practices in 12 rural Kentucky counties across 15 community pharmacies. The investigators aimed to determine whether dispensing patterns were influenced by features of the rural risk environment...“Concerns about exceeding a ‘Drug Enforcement Administration cap’ on opioid dispensing stifled dispensing,” the investigators wrote. The other factors that influenced dispensing were distrust of pharmaceutical companies and prescribers of opioid analgesics and a general stigma against individual who use drugs and/or against the medications to treat substance use disorder...READ MORE

The National Institutes of Health on Friday told EcoHealth Alliance, the study’s sponsor for the past five years, that all future funding was cut...The Trump administration abruptly cut off funding for a project studying how coronaviruses spread from bats to people after reports linked the work to a lab in Wuhan, China, at the center of conspiracy theories about the Covid-19 pandemic’s origins...The National Institutes of Health on Friday told EcoHealth Alliance, the study’s sponsor for the past five years, that all future funding was cut. The agency also demanded that the New York-based research nonprofit stop spending the $369,819 remaining from its 2020 grant...“At this time, NIH does not believe that the current project outcomes align with the program goals and agency priorities,” Michael Lauer, the agency’s deputy director for extramural research...READ MORE

State investigators must inspect hospitals before resolving workplace safety complaints during the coronavirus pandemic, Nevada’s largest health care union formally demanded Friday...In a two-page letter sent to the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Nevada chapter of Service Employees International Union outlined hazards it alleges are still ongoing at a swath of large hospitals across the state...Among the union’s allegations:

— Front-line health care workers are being forced to reuse protective equipment meant for a single use. Additionally, some hospital staff were not being provided proper safety equipment.

— Hospital workers who are at risk for coronavirus complications, or have at-risk family members, are being required to treat and work near coronavirus patients.

— Hospital workers are being exposed to patients with coronavirus symptoms but are never informed if the patients tested positive for the virus. Those same workers were later diagnosed with the disease themselves...READ MORE

The Board Welcomes New Members
-Helen Park
-Richard Tomasso
-Krystal Freitas
-Rolf Zakariassen

Transferring a Prescription
-NAC 639.713 Transfer of information between pharmacies: Conditions; Prohibitions
-NAC 639.714: Transfer of information between pharmacies: Procedure for oral transfers.
-NAC 639.7145: Transfer of information between pharmacies: Requirements for transfer by facsimile machine.

President Trump Signs Legislation Extending Schedule I Status for Fentanyl Analogues

Drug Overdose Deaths Related to Prescription Opioids Declined by 13% in 2018

Drug-Resistant Infections Are Increasing

NASEM Report Recommends Framework for Opioid Prescribing Guidelines for Acute Pain

New Research Shows Pharmacists Positively Impact Hospital Care Transitions

The Department of Health and Human Services has filed an appeal to reinstate a key rule that handles overpayments to Medicare Advantage plans, arguing a lower court's ruling was based on a flawed premise...The appeal, filed Thursday in the federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, could decide how much money MA plans, an increasingly lucrative market for insurers, will have to give back to Medicare for diagnosis errors. HHS argues that an earlier ruling striking down the plan misunderstood how Medicare audits MA plans...The appeal is the latest salvo in a legal fight with insurers over a 2014 rule proposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services...READ MORE

A bipartisan letter has urged Congress to consider including provisions permanently prohibiting pharmacy direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) clawbacks by pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) in future coronavirus relief packages...The published letter cited increased demand and existing financial strain being amplified during the current pandemic as reasons for the bipartisan push for pharmacy DIR reform...The majority of neighborhood pharmacies are already experiencing negative cash flow issues and, for their efforts to help through this pandemic, will get a big bill months from now as PBMs come calling for DIR fees. Eliminating these fees and reining in PBMs has never been more vital if pharmacies are to continue operating now and when this emergency passes...READ MORE

The FDA has authorized the first diagnostic test with a home collection option for coronavirus disease 2019...The FDA initially issued an emergency use authorization on March 16 for LabCorp’s RT-PCR Test, which qualitatively detects nucleic acid from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in upper and lower respiratory specimens from individuals with suspected COVID-19...LabCorp has planned to make Pixel by LabCorp COVID-19 Test home self-collection kits available with a physician’s order in most states in the coming weeks. The molecular test allows samples to be collected from a patient’s nose through a designated self-collected kit containing nasal swabs and saline. After self-collection, the sample is mailed in...to be tested...READ MORE

Gov. Steve Sisolak announced late Tuesday that the Nevada Hospital Association was preparing to resume some “medically necessary” elective procedures in the coming days — the first sign that some restrictions put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19 may be eased in the coming weeks...Unlike many other industries that were temporarily closed by emergency order, Sisolak never issued an order legally curtailing such procedures. State hospitals had instead sought to postpone unnecessary hospital visits on their own, especially as they geared up for an influx of coronavirus infections during March...READ MORE

Washoe District Health Officer Kevin Dick asked for the resignation of the district's chief epidemiologist on Friday...Dr. Randall Todd has been the director of epidemiology for the Washoe County Health District for 14 years. Before that he was Nevada's State Epidemiologist for 12 years...Todd confirmed that Dick asked him to leave his position..."It was requested," Todd said. "What I'm going to do is I'm going to retire. I've got quite a few years in. Twenty-six to be precise."...Todd said Dick did not give him a reason for requesting his resignation. Todd acknowledged that he's been in conflict with Dick "off and on over the years," but wasn't specific about the source of the conflict...READ MORE

A panel of experts convened by the US National Institutes of Health has published treatment guidelines for the coronavirus disease 2019, providing clinical recommendations for a number of therapeutic options that are currently under investigation...Importantly, the guidelines emphasize that, even though there are several therapies being tested as potential treatments, no drug has been proven to be safe and effective for treating COVID-19. Investigational antiviral agents and host modifiers and immune-based therapies were included in the guidance...READ MORE