Texas Pharmacy Today - Texas Pharmacy Association

Association News

Wishing all of our TPA members, friends and family a safe and joyous 4th of July celebrating the independence of our great nation. Have a great holiday weekend!

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Texas Pharmacy Foundation Silent Auction Set for July 15-16
The Foundation's silent auction is coming up and we need your help! Each year, the

Foundation auctions donated items at the 2016 Conference & Expo and that is where you all come in! This year our goal is $50,000. Think what a difference this could make for the students and for our profession. Won’t you help us reach this goal?

Our theme this year is “Deep in the Heart of Texas,” and we are once again asking you to donate items for the auction on which you would like to bid – baskets featuring local goodies from your hometown, gift cards from restaurants and stores that could be used statewide, sports team baskets, wine baskets, or other baskets that invoke the spirit of Texas generosity. The possibilities are unlimited! We challenge the students from each College of Pharmacy and each local pharmacy association to participate in good, old-fashioned, Texas-sized bragging rights for best basket!

CLICK HERE TO CONTRIBUTE!

TPF Arboretum Duck Pond Fun Run Set for Sat. July 16

Jump start your day! Join us Saturday morning July 16 at 6:30 a.m. (Renaissance Austin Hotel lobby) for a 2.5 mile Fun Run. CLICK HERE FOR THE FLYER

July CE Free to Members

Provider Status: What it Means for Texas Pharmacists
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Important Upcoming Dates to Remember

State News

Media Coverage Continues for TPA's Response to Escalating Opioid Overdose Epidemic

In last week’s newsletter, we noted a strong media response to ours membership alert and statewide media news release, regarding the implementation of an expansive physician-authorized “standing order” regarding the dispensing of Naloxone/Narcan—a fast-acting antidote that can be administered to someone who is actively overdosing on opioids.

Several more media outlets have recently run stories on TPA's action:

Vendor Drug Program Payments Delayed Due to Holiday

There will be a one-day delay in fee-for-service Medicaid payments to pharmacy providers because of the Independence Day holiday on Monday, July 4. Medicaid claims submitted June 24-30 will be paid Tuesday, July 5, with deposits available July 7. Claims submitted after June 30 will resume on the regular cycle.
This delay will not affect payment for the Department of State Health Services Kidney Health Care or Children with Special Health Care Needs Services programs.

National News

Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Ninth Circuit Case on Pharmacists' Refusal to Dispense Contraception

As published in www.theatlantic.com
Two years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a controversial 5-4 ruling about birth control and religion, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. Because of the ruling, private companies owned by religious people, including the craft-supply chain Hobby Lobby, can now refuse to cover certain kinds of birth control in their employee insurance plans, a requirement that was put in place by the 2010 Affordable Care Act. Supporters of the ruling claimed it as a triumph for religious freedom and an important precedent for cases about conscience-based objections to contraception.

Two years later, a pharmacy chain in Washington state, Stormans Inc., which operates a store in Olympia called Ralph’s Thriftway, has been denied a hearing before the Supreme Court. The pharmacy’s owners, along with two other pharmacists who are also plaintiffs in the case, Stormans, Inc. v. Wiesman, refused to stock emergency contraception, including Plan B and ella, for religious reasons—they believe the pills are effectively abortifacients. Long-standing state regulations require Washington pharmacies to stock a “representative assortment of drugs in order to meet the pharmaceutical needs of ... patients.” The requirements were updated in 2007, specifying that pharmacies must deliver all FDA-approved drugs to customers; they can’t refer people to get medication at a different location for any kind of religious or moral reasons.
READ THE ARTICLE

C.D.C. and States Ponder Plans to Keep Ahead of Zika
By Sabrina Tavernise, The New York Times

Daniel Markowski, a bug scientist in a cowboy hat, has a phone that will not stop ringing. Now that summer has arrived, and with it the mosquitoes that carry the Zika virus, the services of

the Arkansas-based mosquito control contractor he works for, Vector Disease Control International, are in great demand.

Its workers, the special forces of mosquito control, wield sprayers loaded with pesticide, mostly on behalf of local governments.

“I’ve had people from literally all over the country calling,” he said. “‘What should we do?’”

The federal government is trying to provide some answers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week released a 58-page blueprint for what to do if a homegrown case of Zika surfaces. READ THE ARTICLE

I AM TPA!

Member Spotlight: Brian Fagan- H-E-B, Round Rock
Brian Fagan always wanted to get into the health profession, but it wasn’t until he was in his 20’s that he pursued it.

“Believe it or not, I initially got a degree in Czech language and culture. But at 26, I was encouraged to look into becoming a pharmacist by a family member,” says Fagan. “I’ve always been amazed by how the human body can respond to drugs when they are used properly. I had a great time at The University of Texas College of Pharmacy. It was awesome getting my Pharm.D. degree in 2011—I felt a strong sense of accomplishment.”

Fagan worked as a pharmacy technician at H-E-B during school, and feels the position has given him a greater depth of pharmacy experience.

“That [being a tech] has helped in my current management position,” says Fagan. “The difference is I can do every task if needed. I’ve done every job in pharmacy, so that helps me assess what needs to be done on a daily basis. Mentally, I can go from task to task and complete them.” READ THE ARTICLE

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