Category:

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, RPh

New Reno Office -
985 Damonte Ranch Parkway, Suite 206, Reno, NV 89521.

Board Member Update

Nevada Medicaid Initiates Antibiotics Prior Authorization Criteria - Nevada Department of Health and Human Services

National Pharmacy Compliance News

Final 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

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.”

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.)...

If you want a glimpse of how single-payer health care would work, look at what’s happening to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center...As the Review-Journal’s Jessie Bekker reported Wednesday, 70 percent of the families who use Sunrise’s neonatal intensive care unit are on Medicaid. Sunrise CEO Todd Sklamberg says that Medicaid pays the hospital a flat daily rate of $1,487 per baby. That’s around one-tenth of Sunrise’s average daily charge of $14,815...Mr. Sklamberg said the hospital’s deficit for uncompensated infant care was $77 million last year. If the Legislature doesn’t increase Medicaid reimbursement rates this session, he said, Sunrise will consider reducing NICU services for all patients. The hospital, he said, is on an “unsustainable trajectory.”...This is the aspect of single-payer health care that Bernie Sanders doesn’t talk about...

For all the consternation about the lack of medical care in Las Vegas, local officials have had an odd reaction to the opening of a new hospital...Elite Medical Center is near the heart of the Strip and offers emergency care. It opened up last June, giving prospective patients a new option. It could be an expensive one. Elite Medical Center doesn’t accept insurance, so patients have to pay out-of-network rates...“We think that Elite Medical Center, if they want to operate as a hospital in the state, that they should operate as a CMS-certified center and they should be accredited and Medicare-participating,” said Bill Welch, president of the Nevada Hospital Association, which represents more than 60 Nevada facilities. “Without those things, we’re concerned.”

Translated: We don’t want competition from this upstart company.

Just like any full-service emergency room, Elite Medical Center treats a range of urgent medical problems, from headaches to heart attacks. But unlike at the other ERs in Southern Nevada, you’ll generally pay more for your care...That’s because the facility doesn’t contract with any insurer. So if you break a bone or your child has an earache and you go there, you’ll be paying for out-of-network care...Elite is licensed as a hospital by the state, but experts say it is operating similarly to free-standing emergency rooms that have become common recently in other states. It is the only unaccredited hospital in Clark County that provides emergency care but doesn’t contract with insurers...There’s no license for a free-standing ER in Nevada, though hospitals are allowed to open satellite emergency rooms that provide care at other locations....State law doesn’t mandate that these facilities be accredited by the federal Centers for Medicare or Medicaid Services or accept any insurance, private or public...“We don’t think that’s appropriate,” said Bill Welch, president and CEO of the Nevada Hospital Association, which represents UMC and 65 other medical facilities statewide. “We think that Elite Medical Center, if they want to operate as a hospital in the state, that they should operate as a CMS-certified center and they should be accredited and Medicare-participating. Without those things, we’re concerned.”

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...

Putting together a student body that looks like Las Vegas is the outgrowth of a laser focus on recruiting students committed to the area and willing to help fill big gaps in the state’s health care-workforce. Nevada is chronically short on doctors...Nevada ranks 47th in the nation for the number of active doctors per 100,000 patients, and 48th in the country for its ratio of doctors to residents. In Southern Nevada, that averages out to just over 180 full-time physicians per 100,000 residents, compared to the national average of 303...The school of medicine (UNLV School of Medicine) is projected to have an economic impact of more than a billion dollars a year and create 8,000 jobs by the time it’s fully functional in 2030. But for now, it’s still growing up — the school is asking legislators this session for an additional $14.3 million to add two new cohorts of students, more residencies and additional faculty...One of the main requirements to enter the UNLV Medical School is that the students are originally from Nevada or have strong ties to the state...Although the UNLV School of Medicine doesn’t recruit students outside Nevada...“The reason is we feel like [it’s] more likely they’ll stay to practice here after graduation. People who apply that are not from Nevada we don’t even consider,” Joncich said. “This is what we need in Las Vegas. We need doctors to stay in Las Vegas and treat Las Vegans.”

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.

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...