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Trauma surgeons at University Medical Center are spearheading an awareness campaign to train the public on how they can stop someone from bleeding to death if they get shot or stabbed...Called “Stop the Bleed,” it’s part of a national campaign launched by the White House in October 2015. The goal is for people to get trained to help in a bleeding emergency before EMTs arrive at the scene...Doctors credit concertgoers for saving many lives during the Oct. 1 mass shooting by applying pressure on wounds before the victims could get treatment...UMC is offering the program for businesses who want hospital staff to train their employees at their site, along with schools, athletic teams and other groups. There are also sessions where the public can come to UMC for training, he said...“This is for every single person to obtain this training, to the average soccer mom to any construction zone and anybody we already teach CPR,” Fraser (Dr. Douglas Fraser, UMC trauma surgeon) said. “This is a movement, so we’re not relying on 911 in mass incidents. Time is of the essence, and they may not have time to get there. Innocent bystanders can become health care providers in order to stop the bleed right in front of you.”...Kuhls (Dr. Deborah Kuhls, UMC trauma surgeon) said she and others will lobby the Nevada Legislature in the 2019 session to require companies, governments and others to place wall-mounted Stop the Bleed compression kits with special gauze and tourniquets wherever heart defibrillators are placed. Several states have proposed the kits in public facilities, she said.

Nye County Emergency Management says it is signing a temporary agreement with Reno-based REMSA to provide ambulance service for Tonopah through November 27th...The county says it will appeal in the coming weeks to both the Northern Nye County Hospital District Board and the Board of Nye County Commissioners for a long-term solution for its volunteer ambulance service...Emergency Management says it was previously notified on November 8th that the volunteer ambulance service would shut down on November 13th. Emergency Management and County Administration worked through the weekend to address the situation.

Message From the Executive Secretary, Larry Pinson - It is with mixed emotions that I announce my decision to retire, effective sometime within the next year, after over 22 years of being associated in one way or another with the Nevada State Board of Pharmacy.

New Executive Secretary Announced (The Ultimate Bearcat!) - J. David (“Dave”) Wuest, a graduate of the University of Cincinnati in Ohio and hence an avid Bearcat fan, has been selected to succeed Executive Secretary Larry Pinson upon Larry’s pending retirement in 2018.

Regulatory Update

SB 59 requires the uploading of Schedule V opioid medications into the state’s prescription monitoring database.
SB 337 authorizes a registered pharmacist to manipulate a person for the collection of specimens.
SB 131 requires each retail community pharmacy in the state to provide a prescription reader upon the request of a person to whom a drug is dispensed or advice on obtaining a prescription reader.
SB 260 authorizes a pharmacist who has entered into a valid collaborative practice agreement (CPA) to engage in the collaborative practice of pharmacy and collaborative drug therapy management in the retail setting.
SB 171 requires retail pharmacies in Nevada to post instructions for the safe disposal of unused drugs.   Assembly Bill 474 - many requirements on practitioners using CS to treat patients...

Bowl of Hygeia Recipient 2017 - Congratulations to Mark C. Decerbo

Friendly Reminder - Technicians-in-training must have a separate registration for each individual pharmacy in which they receive their training.

Is Your Pharmacy Helping or Hindering the Health of Nevadans? - Adults may grow up, but they never outgrow the need for vaccines.

.Pharmacy Domain Signals Safety on the Web - With only 4% of websites selling pre­scription drugs online following United States pharmacy laws and practice stan­dards, consumers seeking medications online are faced with the daunting task of finding a safe site. To assist consumers and those legitimate pharmacies with an online presence, NABP has streamlined its website verification programs.

Quality Processes, Risk Management, and Culture: HR-Related Policies That Conflict With a Just Culture

AMA Task Force to Reduce Opioid Abuse Promotes Safe Storage, Disposal of Opioids

CDC Guide Shows Importance of Physicians, Pharmacists Working Together

FIP Report Shows Value of Pharmacists’ Role in Consumers’ Self-Care

FDA Restricts Use of Codeine and Tramadol Medicines in Children; Recommends Against Use in Breastfeeding Women

AVMA Warns Pharmacists and Pet Owners About Xylitol Pharmaceutical Products

CDC Publishes Guide to Help Pharmacists Initiate CPAs With Prescribers

DEA Releases New Edition of Drugs of Abuse Resource Guide - 2017 edition of Drugs of Abuse, A DEA Resource Guide

A federal judge...denied a request by pharmaceutical companies to immediately block a Nevada law requiring them to detail diabetes drug prices and disclose manufacturing costs and research investments come July...The reason, he said: July is more than nine months away...“I don’t see immediate and irreparable harm here,” U.S. District Judge James Mahan said after hearing arguments for and against the request in Las Vegas. Mahan said he might reconsider if the request were made in March or April, but he facetiously added, “My crystal ball is broken.”...At Tuesday’s hearing, Robert Weiner, who represented the pharmaceutical groups, argued that acts as a penalty for companies wanting to raise prices after Nov. 1 and before the July disclosure date...“This is a competitive disadvantage, and it chills us now,” Weiner said...Arguing against the injunction, Las Vegas Chief Deputy Attorney General Linda Anderson said the law is intended to protect diabetes patients in Nevada.

Nevada’s health exchange is looking to once again run its own enrollment site, a move off the healthcare.gov platform that could save the state millions of dollars...The Silver State Health Exchange is planning to issue a request for information in December and will likely issue a request for proposal in March, said Heather Korbulic, the agency’s executive director. She said the healthcare.gov platform limits the exchange’s access to information and how much time customers can spend shopping for plans...“We’ll just take the same business processes that we use with healthcare.gov right now and remove healthcare.gov and put in private technology,” she said. “So we limit any kind of disruption.”...She said the exchange can show that it has a plan that will comply with regulations while still going to a private option. If the new platform is in place by 2020, the exchange would save $6 million...

The Mojave Mental Health Clinic, a component of the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine, will be closing its doors by the end of the year...the university and the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services decided it was best to cease services at Mojave. The clinic, funded completely by patient revenue, has been operating under a deficit of hundreds of thousands of dollars for the past several years..."These patients would be best served by other providers in the community,"...Mojave is working to transition its 485 patients, the vast majority who are on Medicaid, to other mental health facilities in the area...Mojave will officially close its doors on December 31st...

Thousands of Nevadans have limited access to specialty health care, including the nearly 300,000 living in rural areas and many others living in urban centers who have no health insurance or Medicaid coverage. To help remedy this issue, the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine Office of Statewide Initiatives has expanded Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) with new clinics in cardiology, pediatric endocrinology, medication assisted therapy for substance use disorder, as well as a unique school-based behavioral health program...Project ECHO uses teleconferencing technology to connect specialists at UNR Med with primary care clinicians in rural and urban under-served communities...These virtual clinics give primary care physicians, advanced practice registered nurses, physician assistants and other professionals the tools and resources to deliver high quality care in their communities...The impact is enormous...The work...has been transformative in providing critical rural outreach and health care to patients who otherwise would be without. Their work is changing the face of rural health care in the state of Nevada and is a model for delivering access to health care in efficient and affordable ways...

Five months after an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease was reported at the Rio, the number of confirmed cases of the pneumonia-like bacterial illness among guests has risen to seven, with 29 more cases suspected, the Southern Nevada Health District said...Meanwhile, cleaning and testing of the hotel’s water system is continuing to ensure the disease has been eradicated...“In a situation like this, part of the process of these investigations on an environmental aspect is continued testing and monitoring,” said Robert Cole, the health district’s senior environmental health specialist...Often the process, which includes precautionary disinfection of water systems, will continue for up to a year, Cole said...In addition to the Legionnaires’ outbreak, an October report from the health district said there were 56 suspected cases of influenza-like Pontiac fever, a milder illness caused by the same bacteria, at the hotel, for a total of 92 confirmed or suspected cases related to the outbreak...

The maternal-HIV program at UNLV that was suspended by the university six weeks ago without notice is now without a director...The university...placed Dr. Echezona Ezeanolue, the program’s director, and Dina Patel, a pediatric nurse practitioner, on administrative leave. They were escorted off the campus...Shawn Gerstenberger, dean of the school of community health sciences, asked the university to prosecute Ezeanolue and Patel for various “unsubstantiated claims of wrongdoing.”...the grant-funded program, which provides outpatient HIV primary care services to low-income, vulnerable and medically underserved women, infants, children and youth, was suspended by the university six weeks ago...President Len Jessup said previously that there were irregularities with the way the grant is being administered. Gerstenberger said an administrative audit is underway.

State officials are committing more than $1 million to fight prescription opioid abuse in Nevada...The Assembly's Interim Finance Committee...unanimously approved the five-point plan to combat prescription drug abuse...Attorney General Adam Laxalt's office put forward the initiative...My office’s ‘Prescription for Addiction’ opioid initiative creates an opportunity to face the epidemic that touches our families, friends and loved ones, and to promote prevention in Nevada...this initiative...includes the purchase of drug incinerators, the distribution of Naloxone to first responders, funding allocated toward prevention and education efforts, and the creation of an investigative position to assist with federal efforts to curb opioid abuse...The plan is being paid with a $5.3 million settlement with Volkswagen to settle allegations that the carmaker cheated on emissions tests.