Opioid Crisis
DEA Sues the Colorado Board of Pharmacy over PDMP Data
Last week, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) sued the Colorado Board of Pharmacy (Board) demanding that the Board share its Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) data to assist in an ongoing investigation as to whether two unnamed pharmacies broke the law in dispensing opioids and other drugs. Colorado’s PDMP program tracks opioid and other prescription…
Read MoreNew Colorado Law Allows Doctors to Recommend Medical Marijuana for Disabling Medical Conditions
Colorado lawmakers passed Senate Bill 19-013 (Concerning the Conditions for Medical Marijuana Use For Disabling Conditions, and, in connection therewith, Adding a Condition for Which a Physician Could Prescribe an Opioid to the List of Disabling Medical Conditions for Medical Marijuana Use) in May 2019 and it took effect August 2, 2019. Senate Bill 19-013 allows doctors…
Read MoreElectronic Prescribing of Controlled Substances in Colorado
Earlier this year, Colorado Governor Polis signed SB 19-079 Concerning a Requirement that Certain Practitioners Prescribe Controlled Substances Electronically into law. The new law requires that physicians, physician assistants, advanced nurse practitioners, dentists, podiatrists and optometrists must prescribe Schedule II, III, or IV controlled substances electronically, with certain exceptions. A few exceptions noted in the…
Read MoreNew Prescription Law in California Causing Problems
According to the California Department of Public Health, about 2,000 Californians die annually from opioid overdoses. To address the opioid crisis, California, like many other states across the nation, continue to enact new laws that address the prescribing of opioid medications. On January 1, 2019, Assembly Bill (AB) 1753 took effect. AB 1753, in short, requires: (1)…
Read MoreFDA Approves Potent New Opioid Sulfentanil Despite Abuse Warnings
Yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug Dsuvia (Sulfentanil – sublingual 30mcg tablet), a potent synthetic opioid, for the management of acute pain severe enough to require an opioid analgesic for adult patients in certified medically supervised healthcare settings such as hospitals, surgical centers and emergency departments. Intravenous Sulfentanil has been used…
Read MoreEmpowering Pharmacists in the Fight Against Opioid Abuse Act
Yesterday, President Trump signed into law the “Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act, or, for short, the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act. Chapter 2 of the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act empowers pharmacists in the fight against opioid abuse and is appropriately titled as such:…
Read MoreSUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act
Yesterday, on the one-year anniversary of declaring a national opioid public health emergency, President Trump signed into law the “Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recover and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act,” also known as the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act. The law is expected to reduce access to and the supply of…
Read MoreOpioid Crisis Response Act Passed By Senate
Yesterday, the US Senate passed an opioid bill – The Opioid Crisis Response Act – that addresses illicit fentanyl trafficking via the mail system, drug diversion in opioid manufacturing quotas and aims to improve access to addiction treatment via telemedicine. The ‘STOP Act’, drafted by Ohio Senator Rob Portman, addresses the illegal importation of illicit fentanyl…
Read More2018 Arizona Opioid Epidemic Act: Pharmacist and Pharmacy Rule Changes
Earlier this year, Arizona passed the Arizona Opioid Epidemic Act (Act), a comprehensive, bipartisan bill aimed at combating the opioid epidemic. The new legislation addresses opioid treatment, opioid enforcement and oversight, opioid addiction and reversing opioid overdoses. Pharmacists and pharmacies must be aware of a few important rule changes slated to start April 26, 2018,…
Read MoreMcKesson Tries to Avoid Opioid Liability
Drug distributor McKesson filed paperwork in federal court stating that its $40 billion contract with the federal government — the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Indian Health Service — to deliver medications, including opioids, and other pharmacy products, should allow it to raise the government contractor defense to liability in the recent lawsuit filed by…
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