- Lawmakers hear bill to ban rules barring pharmacists from telling patients about less expensive, generic drugs (thenevadaindependent.com)
The legislation, which GOP Assembly members Melissa Hardy and Glen Leavitt presented to the Assembly Commerce and Labor Committee on Monday, would bar pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, from stopping a pharmacist from telling patients about the availability of a less expensive, generic or more effective drug, or a less expensive manner of purchasing a drug. The proposal builds upon a pharmacy gag ban passed by the Legislature in 2017 that prevented PBMs from blocking pharmacists from sharing information about the copay or coinsurance for a prescription drug or the clinical efficacy of a less expensive alternative drug...READ MORE
- AG will recuse on selecting outside legal help for opioid lawsuit (thenevadaindependent.com)
Attorney General Aaron Ford is seeking an outside firm to represent the state in a major lawsuit against some of the nation’s largest opioid manufacturers...members of the legislative Interim Finance Committee granted the attorney general’s office permission...to open up bidding for an outside law firm to represent the state in litigation against opioid manufacturers. Ford...who...worked for a private law firm that is representing numerous Nevada municipalities in class action lawsuits, also said...that he will recuse himself from selection of outside counsel...State Consumer Advocate Ernest Figueroa, who presented the request to lawmakers, gave few details on the proposed litigation beyond stating that approval from the interim body was a required step under state law. He cited a declaration of findings signed by Ford and Gov. Steve Sisolak on Jan. 23 saying the state likely required additional legal resources to pursue litigation against companies that engaged in “unlawful and deceptive practices marketing of prescription opioids.”
- State receives first reports on diabetes drug costs; questions remain over what will be publicly disclosed (thenevadaindependent.com)
Nearly 20 drug manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers submitted reports to the state detailing the costs of manufacturing and distributing diabetes drugs in advance of a Tuesday deadline, and state officials continue to comb through others received this week as they prepare to undertake their first examination of the factors contributing to the costs of treating Nevadans with diabetes...drug companies and PBMs...,insurers and pharmacies — were required to submit reports to the state explaining the costs associated with essential diabetes drugs and, for some, why the costs of those drugs increased significantly over the prior year...The new law additionally requires the state to compile an annual report analyzing the information it receives from drug companies and PBMs in aggregate to explain the factors contributing to the costs of treating diabetes...
- Nevada State Board of Pharmacy – Newsletter – October 2018 (bop.nv.gov)AB 474 (leg.state.nv.us)LCB File No. R047-18 (leg.state.nv.us)
- Assembly Bill 474
- National Pharmacy Compliance News
- FDA Issues Final Guidance Policy on Outsourcing Facilities
- EU-US Mutual Recognition Agreement Now Operational Between FDA and 12 Member States
- US Surgeon General Advisory Urges More Individuals to Carry Naloxone
- Expanding Pharmacists’ Scope of Practice Linked to Improved Cardiovascular Outcomes
- Pharmacists Are Critical to Drug Supply Chain Integrity, States FIP
- Emergency Department Visits for Opioid Overdoses Rose 30%
- Nevada Medicaid officials confront decline in federal funds (reviewjournal.com)Las Vegas center gets probation for defrauding Medicaid (reviewjournal.com)Las Vegas health care provider sentenced for Medicaid fraud (reviewjournal.com)
State health officials gave legislators an overview of Nevada’s Medicaid program in an Assembly committee meeting...during which the program’s new administrator said the state program will be tackling a decrease in federal funding in coming years...“These rates are tied to the overall economy, so when the economy does better, we get a lower … rate from the federal government,” Suzanne Bierman, administrator...Department of Health and Human Services, said...The rate, called a federal medical assistance percentage, determines the share of Medicaid costs covered by the federal government. For the 2019 fiscal year, federal funds cover 65.09 percent of Medicaid costs...That number is expected to decrease to 64.17 percent in the next fiscal year...
- EDITORIAL: Transparency and holding down health care costs (reviewjournal.com)
Under a new federal regulation that went on the books at the start of the year, hospitals are required to post online the prices of services offered. Not surprisingly, some facilities aren’t eager to comply and are attempting to undermine the point of the new requirement...This lack of transparency eliminates a vital competitive pressure on doctors and hospitals that might help control costs. Meanwhile, patients are forced to navigate a confusing mélange of bills and insurance notices after the fact...In what other segment of the marketplace would average consumers accept an arrangement in which they purchase a service or product without knowing their financial obligation?...the new regulation is at least “pushing hospitals to think more about consumerism.” That’s a good thing — even if the new transparency regulations will require further tweaking to ensure consumers get the information in plain English.
- Insurers, providers inch closer to compromise on surprise emergency room bills (thenevadaindependent.com)
Surprise medical bills...patients receive after they’re transported by ambulance to a hospital — sometimes unconscious or in critical condition — that is out of their insurance company’s network. They’re also the bills patients receive when they land in an emergency room that contracts with their insurance company but are inadvertently treated by a doctor that doesn’t...Hospitals, physicians and insurance companies in Nevada have agreed that patients experiencing a true emergency shouldn’t have to worry about whether they’re receiving in-network care — or face bills totaling tens of thousands of dollars if they accidentally wind up out of network just because their provider and insurer don’t have a contract. Where there has historically been less agreement, though, is what to do about it...
- Nevada State Board of Pharmacy News (bop.nv.gov)
Board Members
Leo Basch, PharmD, RPh, Las Vegas
Robert Sullivan, Reno
Jason Penrod, PharmD, RPh, Reno
Kevin Desmond, RPh, Reno
Wayne Mitchell, PharmD, RPh, Carson City
Melissa Shake, PharmD, RPh, Las Vegas
Jade Jacobo, PharmD, JD, RPh, Las Vegas
Retirement of the Executive Secretary
- Larry L. Pinson, PharmD, RPhNew Reno Office -
985 Damonte Ranch Parkway, Suite 206, Reno, NV 89521.
Board Member UpdateNevada Medicaid Initiates Antibiotics Prior Authorization Criteria - Nevada Department of Health and Human Services
National Pharmacy Compliance NewsFinal Guidance Documents Address FDA Policies Related to DSCSA
First FDA-Approved Drug Containing Extract From Cannabis Plant to Be Placed in Schedule V
ASHP Guidelines Provide Recommendations for Preventing Patient Harm From Medication Errors
FDA’s Final Guidance Documents Address Compounding and Repackaging of Radiopharmaceuticals
Pharmacy Toolkit Encourages Conversations With Patients About Prescription Opioids
Biosimilars Added to FIP’s Policy on Pharmacists’ Right to Substitute a Medication
FDA Offers CE Course on Reducing Hypoglycemic Events in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes - Leveraging Health Literacy and Patient Preferences to Reduce Hypoglycemic Events in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes
- More than two dozen companies required to submit reports on diabetes drug costs have not complied (thenevadaindependent.com)
Nearly 40 drug companies and pharmacy benefit managers submitted reports to the state detailing the costs associated with manufacturing and selling essential diabetes drugs by this month’s deadline, though almost as many have yet to report...27 drug companies identified as manufacturers of essential diabetes drugs have yet to report to the state. Scott Jones, manager of the Primary Care and Health Workforce Development Office, said in an email that the state will be reaching out to those companies to inform them of the law and obtain the required reports. (If they refuse, the state is allowed by law to impose a fine of $5,000 a day.)...
- Marijuana Dispensary count could nearly double after state issues 61 conditional licenses, but details on winners remains secret (thenevadaindependent.com)Nevada Supreme Court: Pot dispensary owner names not public record (rgj.com)
Nevada could soon have almost twice as many marijuana dispensaries as it does now after the state issued 61 conditional licenses, although it’s not releasing details about who the winners of the potentially lucrative permits are...“We issued a number of state-level licenses in counties that have thus far declined to allow marijuana establishments,” said spokeswoman Stephanie Klapstein of the Nevada Department of Taxation, which regulates marijuana. “There’s a chance some of those licenses will not ultimately result in operational retail marijuana stores.”...License winners have one year to obtain local approvals and pass a final inspection from the tax agency before they are issued a final state license. At that point, the name of the dispensary will be published on the state list of open retail stores, which currently includes 65 dispensaries in five counties.