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Our next Texas Federation of Drug Stores Board of Directors meeting is this Wednesday, February 10th at the historic Driskill Hotel. The hotel was built in 1886 for cattle baron Colonel Jesse Driskill who made his fortune selling longhorns on the Chisholm Trail. The Texas Senate met on the mezzanine floor during the state capitol's reconstruction and during Prohibition, the hotel served as a speakeasy. In 1969, the Driskill became a national historic landmark and was saved from being turned into a parking lot. The Driskill is also dubbed "Most Haunted Hotel in Texas", so please be forewarned. I look forward to seeing you on Wednesday and hope you enjoy your stay at The Driskill.
Kathy Barber |
| TX HHSC Budget Reduction Meeting |
I wanted to draw your attention to an important item that will be covered at the Federation's Board of Director's meeting. The Health and Human Services Commission will be meeting this Thursday, Feb. 11 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. to discuss possible budget reductions. TFDS will present testimony regarding the preservation of our current dispensing fee. For additional information regarding the hearing, please click on the link below. http://www.hhsc.state.tx.us/news/meetings/past/2010/021110_BudgetReduction.html |
| High-Volume Pharmacies To Educate Employees About Fraud |
Federal law requires all providers and other entities that receive or make annual Medicaid payments of $5 million or more to educate their employees, contractors, and agents about fraud and false claims laws, and the whistleblower protections available under those laws. To learn more, please visit the Texas Medicaid website. |
| Rx Update Newsletter Available Online |
The January 2010 Vendor Drug Rx Update newsletter is now available. All pharmacy providers contracted with Vendor Drug will receive a copy of this newsletter in the mail. If you are contracted but do not receive your copy, please check the Pharmacy Contracts section of the Vendor Drug website to ensure your contact information is correct. If the information is incorrect or incomplete, please submit corrections on your pharmacy letterhead to the Medicaid/CHIP Contract Management unit at 512-491-1974. Providers must notify the Contract Management unit of any changes in pharmacy status in accordance with the terms and conditions of their contract with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, including billing and physical addresses, phone and fax numbers, or store closure. |
| Medicaid/CHIP Health Info Exchange Advisory Committee Meeting |
The Medicaid and CHIP Health Information Exchange Advisory Committee met on February 1, 2010 to elect officers and approve by-laws. State Agency staff presented the Committee an overview of the requirements included in recent laws passed by the 81st legislature requiring a health information exchange pilot, a Medicaid e-Prescribing implementation plan and Medicaid electronic health record (EHR) incentive payment program for practitioners not currently using EHR. Wendy Faldet, an HEB pharmacist with an extensive health technology background, represents pharmacy on the committee. For additional information on the committee, please follow the link below. http://www.hhs.state.tx.us/news/circulars/C-032.shtml |
| Medicaid/CHIP Regional Advisory Committees Accepting Applications |
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) is accepting applications for membership to the Medicaid/CHIP Regional Advisory Committees for 12 areas across the state. The committees will discuss and provide recommendations related to Medicaid and CHIP. Applications will be accepted through Feb. 26, 2010.
Membership may include representation from the following:
- Medicaid/CHIP primary care providers
- Specialty providers (including pediatricians)
- Rural health providers
- Long-term care providers
- Hospitals
- Consumer advocates
- Members who use or have used Medicaid/CHIP services
- Medicaid/CHIP managed care organizations
- Political subdivisions with a constitutional or statutory obligation to provide health care to indigent patients
- School districts
- Faith-based organizations
Membership on the committee requires regular participation in committee meetings four times per year. Committee members will not receive compensation for participation on the committee and will be responsible for their own travel expenses.
Location of Committees
The following cities will have a Medicaid/CHIP Regional Advisory Committee:
- Lubbock
- Abilene
- Dallas
- Fort Worth
- Tyler
- Beaumont
- Houston
- Austin
- San Antonio
- San Angelo/Midland
- El Paso
- Rio Grande Valley
Application InformationTo apply, complete the application and send it to HHSC by Feb. 26. You may return completed applications by e-mail, fax or mail:
Fax: (713) 767-3126
Mail: Dr. David Arlen, HHSC-Office of Community Collaboration, 5425 Polk Avenue, Suite 230-D, Houston, Texas 77023-1497 |
| Senate Interim Charges |
Below is a link to Senate Interim Charges that were recently released. The first Senate Health and Human Services Committee hearing has been scheduled for February 23-24, 2010, where Interim Charges concerning H1N1 and workforce shortages will be discussed (see Senate Health and Human Services Committee Interim Charges, p. 11, #5 and p. 12 #8). TFDS will provide updates as Interim Committee meetings are posted and are held.
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| State Agencies & Universities Asked To Cut 5% From Budgets |
On January 15, 2010, Governor Perry, Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst and Speaker Strauss asked all state agencies, universities and court systems to identify savings in their budgets totaling five percent of the general revenue for the 2010-2011 biennium. To read more, click on the link below:
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| TCEQ Pharmaceutical Disposal Advisory Group Meets |
The Pharmaceutical Disposal Advisory Group met for the first time to discus SB 1757 which requires the agency to examine pharmaceuticals in Texas' water supply. Although the meeting was organizational in nature, the group will continue to meet on a monthly basis until June, after which the agency will write its report to the legislature. TCEQ has recently posted a webpage providing information on the purpose of the group and meeting details. To view additional information, click on the link below.
http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/permitting/water_supply/pdw/pdagroup |
| TX State Board of Pharmacy Meeting
February 9-10 |
Below is a link to the Texas State Board of Pharmacy agenda for the meeting February 9 - 10. There are several rules that have been proposed for Class A pharmacies that will be discussed at the meeting. TFDS provided feedback to the TSBP on draft rules the Board will be discussing regarding prescription labeling (concerns about timeline in implementing) and internet pharmacies (written to broad and may include community pharmacies that utilize the internet). Below is a list of rules impacting Class A pharmacies.
Item C: Discussion of and Possible Action Regarding Rules
Item C.1.1: Requirements for Electronic Prescriptions - changes language regarding faxed prescriptions (Please Note: this is the only rule in this group that has been published in the Texas Register and can be adopted)
Item C.2.3.: Prescription Labeling - implements HB 19 language regarding flushing drugs
Item C.2.4: Remote Verification of Prescription Data Entry - requirements for pharmacists providing cognitive services and electronic verification of prescriptions from remote sites
Item C.2.5: Prescription Drug Recall - requirements for pharmacies on handling of prescription drug recalls
Item C.2.6: Professional Responsibility - clarify the requirements for a pharmacist's corresponding responsibility in verifying the validity of prescriptons issued via the internet or without a valid patient-practitioner relationship
ItemC.2.7: Technician Grounds for Discipline - implements SB 1853
Item C.3: Rule Reviews in Accordance with Government Code
Item C.3.1.2: Educational Requirements for Technicians - has been published in Texas Register - final adoption
Item C.3.1.3: Generic Substitution - final adoption - has been published in Texas Register - final adoption
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| GAO Report Brand Name Drug Pricing |
The US Government Accountability Office released its report on brand name drug pricing. To view the report, click on this link:
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| The Lancet's Vaccine Retraction |
The British medical journal The Lancet yesterday offered a mea culpa of sorts for its role in launching a global vaccine scare. Its regrets come about 12 years too late.
The journal finally issued a full retraction of a study it ran in 1998 linking measles-mumps-rubella vaccines to autism. The paper, with Dr. Andrew Wakefield as lead author, sent British parents fleeing from inoculations and fed U.S. alarm over preservatives in vaccines.
Even in 1998, overwhelming scientific evidence showed vaccines to be safe. Yet the press-savvy Dr. Wakefield had been getting headlines for his research, and the Lancet's publication fed the controversy by giving him an aura of respectability.
Evidence of vaccine safety continued to build, but the Lancet stuck to its story through 2004, when it was revealed that Dr. Wakefield had been paid to conduct his study on children who were clients of a lawyer ginning up a lawsuit. Even then the journal offered only a partial retraction, saying it had been correct to "raise new ideas."
Meanwhile, Britain's child vaccination rates had plummeted to below 70% in some areas, down from more than 90% in the mid-1990s. The country has since suffered waves of measles outbreaks. In 1998 England and Wales had 56 cases; by 2008 the number was 1,370. In 2006, the first British child died of measles in more than a decade.
The Lancet decision came after the General Medical Council-Britain's medical regulator-ruled last week that Dr. Wakefield had acted "dishonestly and irresponsibly." The panel confirmed years of allegations that he had been untruthful about his patients and funding and had shown a "callous disregard" for the children-subjecting them to invasive and unnecessary procedures. Only with the GMC now considering whether to strip Dr. Wakefield of his license has the Lancet finally said it "fully retract[s] this paper from the published record."
The Lancet episode shows how even reputable publications can become conduits for junk science when political causes run hot. Especially amid the scandal over politically motivated climate science, the public needs professional journals to be scrupulous about their standards and honest about the science.
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| Upcoming Events and Meetings |
For more information on upcoming events and meetings, please contact Kathy Barber at (512)472-8261 or kbarber@txretailers.org.
2010
February 9 - 10 - Texas State Board of Pharmacy Meeting
February 10 - Texas Federation of Drug Stores Board of Directors Meeting
February 11 - Texas Health and Human Services Budget Options Hearing
February 23 - 24 - Texas Senate Health and Human Services Committee Hearing on Interim Charges
March 4 - Texas Federation of Drug Stores Monthly Conference Call
March 10 - 11 - Texas Senate Health and Human Services Committee Hearing on Interim Charges
April 1 - Texas Federation of Drug Stores Month Conference Call
April 14 -15 - Texas Senate Health and Human Services Committee Hearing on Interim Charges
May 4 - 5 - Texas State Board of Pharmacy Business Meeting
May 12 - Texas Senate Health and Human Services Committee Hearing on Interim Charges
June 5 - 8 - NACDS Market Place Conference
August 10 - 11 - Texas State Board of Pharmacy Business Meeting
August 28 - September 1 - NACDS Pharmacy and Technology Conference | |
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