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Pharmacists say Georgia's evolving restrictions around access to abortion coupled with recent guidance from the federal government have created confusion over distribution of medication that can terminate pregnancies...The Biden administration earlier this month warned pharmacists nationwide that they are required to fill prescriptions for pills that can induce abortion. Refusing to give out the prescribed medication "may be discriminating" on the basis of sex or disability and could amount to a violation of federal civil rights laws...Bob Coleman, CEO of the Georgia Pharmacy Association, said the organization is working with national pharmacy associations to get clarity..."We understand that confusing and sometimes contradictory information is being shared," he said. "Unfortunately, the HHS guidance puts highly trained health care professionals...in a seemingly impossible situation."...Georgia Republican U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, a pharmacist, called the HHS message to his colleagues a "gross abuse of executive authority."..."There is no constitutional right to an abortion, and as such, there is no constitutional obligation for pharmacists to knowingly dispense drugs intended for an abortion," Carter said in a statement. "This administration has a habit of using health care professionals as political pawns, from vaccines to abortions, and that abuse must come to an end."...READ MORE

A Baltimore-based pharmacy and pharmacist have agreed to pay $15,000 in penalty and adhere to “corrective action” in a case that involves allegedly filling dozens of fraudulent prescriptions despite red flags...The United States entered into a consent decree with Ketan K. Dankhara and Falls RX LLC, doing business as Ultra Care Pharmacy Baltimore, which means the case was resolved without Dankhara and the pharmacy admitting guilt...READ MORE

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

San Francisco's district attorney's office...announced the conviction and sentencing in a high-profile Walgreens theft from last May...Jean Lugo Romero, who pled guilty to felony grand theft and misdemeanor petty theft, was sentenced to 16 months in prison and one-year probation, according to District Attorney Chesa Boudin's office...The brazen incident was caught on video and became an early flash point in examples of viral videos touting crime running rampant in the city. Lugo Romero is seen grabbing items off the shelf from a now-permanently-closed Hayes Valley Walgreens store, placing them into a garbage bag and then riding a bicycle through the store, past an employee and a security guard, to make an escape through the front door...These types of videos have been used as ammunition against Boudin, who critics say is too lenient on crime. Boudin faces a recall election this summer. A recent poll suggests that recall effort has strong support...READ MORE

Pharmacies are temporarily limiting purchases of the morning-after contraception pill following a surge in demand prompted by the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade...CVS, Walmart and Rite Aid...announced purchase limits on emergency contraceptives. Some Michigan pharmacists have reported shortages, but most stores are still stocked and dispensing the pill, said Farah Jalloul, state emergency preparedness coordinator for the Michigan Pharmacists Association...READ MORE

CVS Health has asked Gov. Phil Scott to veto H.353 — a last-ditch effort to block a bill it says would raise prescription drug costs for Vermonters with private insurance...H.353 started out as a bill to make drugs more affordable by regulating pharmacy benefits managers, third-party companies that negotiate medication coverage plans for consumers with private insurers. But revisions of the bill, as it worked its way through the House and Senate, would have all but guaranteed that specialty drug prescriptions given to patients in health care settings, including expensive cancer medication, would be filled at the University of Vermont Health Network’s pharmacy in Burlington, rather than through cheaper mail-order pharmacies that insurers prefer...READ MORE

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

No one who provides a service does it for free. Professionals administer these services, and payment is expected...Have you heard about the uninsured person who walked into the pharmacy to get their second or third or fourth COVID-19 shot? The billing mechanism for these patients—the Health Resources and Services Administration—is now out of money, and yet we, the pharmacists, are expected to take care of these patients...According to the CDC website,“[The] COVID-19 vaccine is free of charge for everyone. Participating pharmacies will bill private and public insurance for the vaccine administration fee. For uninsured patients, this fee will be reimbursed through the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Provider Relief Fund.”...At least half the patients who come into the pharmacy will ask why we need their insurance card. “These shots are supposed to be free,” they say. I explain to them that it takes at least 15 minutes of our time to administer a shot, and even though the vaccine is “free”—and even the alcohol pads and syringes are “free”—there is still a cost...READ MORE

A lawyer for two Ohio counties said...that CVS Health Corp, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc and Walmart Inc should fund an $878 million plan to address the opioid crisis there, as a first-of-its-kind trial got underway to determine the pharmacy chains' contribution...the counties want the companies to fund a $878 million five-year plan that Mark Lanier, a lawyer representing the counties, said on Monday was aimed at solving the opioid crisis rather than allocating blame...READ MORE

The econowonks at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently released the latest projections for U.S. spending on healthcare. These data provide our first official look at post-pandemic U.S. healthcare spending...As you will see below, outpatient prescription drugs dispensed by retail and mail pharmacies are projected to remain a small share (8.4%) of total U.S. healthcare spending. What’s more, taxpayers—via Medicare and Medicaid—will continue to crowd out the private insurance market. One bright spot: consumers will account for an ever-smaller share of drug spending...READ MORE