Texas Pharmacy Today - Texas Pharmacy Association

Association News

TPA Responds to the Rising Cost of EpiPens
Escalating Prices Could Create Life and Death Issues

Wednesday of this week, TPA issued a news release to Texas media outlets regarding our serious concerns with the increasing cost for patients to acquire EpiPens. The release asked Congress to address the rising costs in medications by holding formal hearings regarding dramatic price increases of medications such as those seen with EpiPens.

The full text of TPA’s release was as follows:

Texas pharmacists are very concerned and disappointed with the impact on

patients that has been created by the rising cost of EpiPens – a life-saving epinephrine medication,” said Rene Garza, Pharm.D., president of the Texas Pharmacy Association (TPA) and owner of Stonegate Pharmacy in Austin. “As a pharmacist, I often hear the frustration from patients about the high cost of their medications like what has happened with Mylan’s EpiPen. Unfortunately, manufacturer-driven price increases such as this is becoming all too common and unacceptable!”

With a continuing focus on saving lives and increasing access to this life saving medication, TPA worked to pass legislation that authorized pharmacist to administer an epinephrine auto-injector without a prescription when a patient is in a related emergency condition. The passage of the bill dramatically expanded access to this life-saving medication by making the treatment accessible in every Texas pharmacy. TPA believe so much in the importance of expanding access to this medication that pharmacists now offer this service to the public at no cost beyond the price of the product.

With only one epinephrine auto-injector product currently available in the United States, Mylan has a monopoly on a patient’s ability to access this medication in a simple to use version. “Epinephrine in an EpiPen is not a product that people have the choice to purchase or not purchase,” said TPA Division Director, Public Affairs Justin Hudman. “If you suffer from severe allergies, having immediate access to this product can truly be the difference between life and death.”

The dramatic price increase taking place will not only impact patients and their families, but will be problematic to school districts, first responders, local governments and insurance companies who are forced to grapple with affording the medication. Another change in Texas law requires that Texas public and open-enrollment charter schools have unassigned epinephrine auto-injectors available on campus and at school events.

TPA believes that it is critical for Congress to address the rising costs in medications by holding formal hearings regarding the dramatic price increases in medications such as those seen with EpiPens.

The TPA release already has been published by various news outlets throughout Texas.

Late Breaking News...EpiPen Maker Lowers Price after Uproar

TPA has just learned that the maker of EpiPens announced Thursday that it is reducing the current $600 price for the device following an uproar in Washington and in the media over the cost of treatment for serious allergic reactions. National news sources compared the steep 400% price increase for the product over the last 8 years to Mylan CEO’s salary which grew 671% from almost $2.5 million to nearly $19 million over the same period of time.

Mylan, the company that makes EpiPen, said it will provide a savings card worth up to $300 for people who had been paying the increased full price out-of-pocket, effectively reducing the cost by 50 percent. Hopefully, this is just a very small first step. Meanwhile, members of the U.S. Congress already have rejected the coupon concept as not being enough. More to come! READ THE ARTICLE

August is National Immunization Awareness Month

August is National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM), and the last week of the month is dedicated to pre-teens and teens. At eleven years old, pre-teens should start receiving routinely recommended adolescent vaccines, including the Tdap, HPV, and meningococcal vaccines, as well as catching up with any missed immunizations. The childhood immunization schedule can help explain all needed vaccines, but if a parent is unsure what vaccines have been received they can talk to their child’s doctor or their pharmacist. Parents can also sign up for ImmTrac to keep a centralized and secure record of their child’s immunization history. Additionally, many children may be eligible for Texas Vaccines for Children (TVFC), a program that helps ensure every family can afford protection for their pre-teens and adolescents. Please visit our TVFC website for more information.

To help promote adolescent immunizations, please see the “Love Them & Protect Them”- ImmTrac Brochure (stock #6-202), the childhood immunization schedule (stock #6-105), the “Halt HPV” brochure (stock #11-13711), and the “I’m Invincible” brochure on TVFC (stock #11-11117), all of which can be downloaded at here. Additionally there are some wonderful PSAs from the CDC that can help promote HPV vaccination on social media.

TPA will be releasing a Patient Vaccination Tracking portal in October. This new on-line service will allow any patient in Texas to set up their vaccination history in a secure, no-cost system that can be easily shared with schools and health care providers. Watch for more information next month!!

This Week’s Reminder of TPA's Naloxone Standing Order
Texas pharmacists are encouraged to utilize TPA’s 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.

The required online one hour accredited course is available through TPA at no cost for pharmacists planning to utilize the TPA standing order.

Click here for the Texas Pharmacist Naloxone Standing Order Application to take the continuing education course.

TPA Visits Around the State

On August 18th, TPA Division Director of Public Affairs Justin Hudman spoke to the Tarrant County Pharmacy Association regarding 2017 Legislative Priorities and what to expect this coming session
On August 20th, Hudman provided a day long advocacy program at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Pharmacy Leadership Retreat.

Upcoming Events

The Pharmacist’s Role in the Opioid Abuse Epidemic
When: 10/23/2016 at 9:00 AM
Where: Renaissance Austin Hotel, 9721 Arboretum Boulevard • Austin, Texas 78759

The Pharmacist & Patient-Centered Diabetes Care
When: 11/17/2016, 8:00 AM
Where: Hilton Austin, 500 East 4th Street • Austin, Texas 78701

Questions? Contact: Lisa Goerlitz at lgoerlitz@texaspharmacy.org or 512-615-9169

Supporting TPA - Pace Alliance Continues Its Success……
The 2016 Pace Alliance, Inc., Annual Shareholders Meeting was held in conjunction with McKesson ideaShare earlier this year in Chicago. During the meeting, Curtis J. Woods, CEO of Pace Alliance announced that 2015 was another outstanding year for PACE and that 2016 is on track also to be very successful.

Pace Alliance is an Independent Pharmacy Buying Group owned by 19 state pharmacy associations, including the Texas Pharmacy Association. TPA was one of the first state pharmacy associations to join Pace in 1985.

The Board of Directors of Pace Alliance, Inc., consists of one person from each of the Pace states. Joe A. DaSilva, Chief Executive Officer of TPA serves on the Pace Board as TPA’s representative.

For 31 years, Pace Alliance has successfully fulfilled its two-fold mission with overwhelming success:
1. To generate revenue for the Pace Shareholder Organizations; and
2. To advocate and negotiate on behalf of Pace member independent pharmacies in order for them to continue to be viable and competitive.

In partnership with McKesson, Pace continues to be one of the top partners and financial supporters of TPA. Year after year, Pace’s successes have resulted in outstanding financial returns to TPA and 2015 recorded the highest level of contributions in the last ten years. TPA is extremely appreciative to McKesson for the generous financial support to TPA through Pace

Pace Alliance is the only buying group in the nation that is owned by state pharmacy associations and that distributes all of its profits to associations to fund programs and projects supporting pharmacy at the state level.

Pace membership is open to Independent Pharmacies nationwide. Through its exclusive contract with McKesson, the Pace-McKesson program is available anywhere McKesson services pharmacies.

For more information, contact the Pace (www.pacealliance.com) and Pace will provide details about the Pace-McKesson program and the advantages of membership in Pace.

August CE Free to Members

Naloxone Harm Reduction for Texas Pharmacists
REGISTER NOW

State News
Vendor Drug Program Payments Delayed Due to Labor Day
There will be a one-day delay in fee-for-service Medicaid payments to pharmacy providers because of the Labor Day holiday on September 5. Medicaid claims submitted August 26 - September 1 will be paid September 6, with deposits available September 8. Claims submitted after September 1 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.

Sunset Commission Continues TSBP Review

On August 22, the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission met to finalize recommendations regarding the Texas State Board of Pharmacy’s Sunset Review. As a part of the hour-plus discussions, the Sunset Commission considered several

modifications to the existing recommendations in the staff report. Unfortunately, two key changes requested by pharmacy were not supported by Commission members. One modification would have eliminated the requirement for pharmacists to check the Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) prior to dispensing a controlled substance. The other needed change not made was to the requirement that pharmacists enter their related dispensing activities in the PMP within one business day, instead of three days. Click here to reference records 1.1 and 1.2 for further clarification.

Additional highlights of the meeting included two new TSBP-related requirements which were adopted and approved by the Sunset Commission. One will require wholesale pharmaceutical distributors to report their sales of controlled substances to the Agency and the PMP database as they currently submit to the D.E.A. Additionally, TSBP will be required to recognize all pharmacy technician certifications offered by an entity accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies. The Sunset Commission approved it as a management action, so at this time it is not considered mandatory.

TPA Participates in Texas Pharmacy Congress Meeting

Texas A&M Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy hosted a meeting of the Texas Pharmacy Congress (TPC) in College Station on August 17-18.

The Congress met to discuss a number of key issues and to share recent news from

each of the Texas colleges of pharmacy. High on the list of issues for the meeting was a discussion regarding the image of pharmacists and opportunities to increase exposure of the role of pharmacists. On another issue, members of the Congress learned more about activities related to increased training and educational requirements for pharmacy technician certification which will go into effect in 2020. The Congress also received a briefing on potential legislative issues impacting pharmacy during the upcoming 2017 Texas legislative session.

The Texas Pharmacy Congress is a coordinating body designed to serve as a forum on pharmacy matters of common interest to its members. Its mission is to facilitate discussion on professional, technological, legislative and regulatory issues through exchange of views, interpretation and analysis of matters of common interest to Texas pharmacists, Texas pharmacy organizations and their constituencies. Membership consists of the eight Texas Colleges of Pharmacy along with representatives from the Texas Pharmacy Association, the Texas Federation of Drug Stores, the Texas Society of Health-System Pharmacists and the Texas State Board of Pharmacy.

TPC will hold its next meeting in Austin in November. It will be hosted by the Texas Society of Health System Pharmacists. TPA again will be in attendance representing you and all of pharmacy.

Vaccinate Texas

TPA is partnering with Vaccinate Texas, a non-branded awareness campaign designed to bring together entities across Texas to increase flu vaccination rates beginning October 1, 2016, and running through National Influenza Vaccination Week, December 5-11, 2016.

Use the toolbox here, along with your own logo and specific message to promote vaccinations in your pharmacy setting.

Download the complete zipped toolkit folder here.

National News
Zika News, Resources Available from CDC
As the Zika virus continues to dominate the daily news cycle, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention has put together extensive resources for health care practitioners. The CDC sends a monthly Emergency Partners newsletter with updates about current health issues, including Zika (click here to subscribe). In addition, the CDC maintains an updated webpage for health care providers that includes resources such as fact sheets, tips on building a prevention kit, information about local transmission, and bite prevention information for travelers.

The Zika virus is spread to people primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito, but also from mother to fetus and by coming into contact with semen from an infected man. The most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis. However, Zika virus infection during pregnancy can cause a serious birth defect called microcephaly, as well as other severe fetal brain defects.

I AM TPA!

Member Spotlight: Shara Zatopek, University of Houston College of Pharmacy
TPA member Shara Zatopek comes from a family of pharmacists. Her father was a pharmacist who went on to medical school, and her uncle, cousin and second cousin are all pharmacists.

“I remember as a kid, going into Zatopek Pharmacy in Weimar (central Texas) and I’d see my uncle Norbert,” says Zatopek. “He was my role model. My dad had a grasp of medicine that was different from just being a physician because he was a pharmacist too.”

Zatopek recalls that pharmacies used to be in the back of the store, but presaging current thinking, her uncle put the pharmacy up front because he wanted to greet people.

“I watched him do compounding—that was a basic pharmacy service back then,” says Zatopek, who helped out with the soda fountain and sweeping the floor.

Zatopek went to school at the University of Houston College of Pharmacy and graduated after a five-year BS program in 1974. READ THE ARTICLE

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