Friday, January 30, 2026

ASSOCIATION NEWS

The theme of the Texas Pharmacy Association’s 2025 Conference & Expo, “In Our Pharmacy Era,” proved to be a refrain that captured the essence of the entire year. Members rallied around that theme at the conference in Austin and embraced the message as we tackled tough topics to promote and preserve the pharmacy profession. Read the report online or in the upcoming Winter 2026 issue of Texas Pharmacy magazine for more details.

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This session highlights key updates in the 2026 American Diabetes Association Standards of Care, focusing on changes that impact pharmacist-led medication selection, monitoring, and patient counseling. Updates to glucose-lowering therapies, diabetes technology, and cardiovascular, kidney, and obesity management will be reviewed to support evidence-based diabetes care. Join us for a live CE webinar Thursday, February 12, to learn more. The webinar will also be available on demand following the event if your schedule does not allow for live viewing.

STATE NEWS

The next Texas State Board of Pharmacy Board Meeting will be held Tuesday, February 3, in Austin. The agenda is published online for review in advance. TSBP Board Meetings are open to the public, and interested parties are encouraged to attend. Please provide any comments or concerns you may have regarding any of the rules up for final adoption, proposed rules or discussions items to RoxAnn Dominguez.

Texas State Board of Pharmacy (January 29, 2026)

The Texas Department of State Health Services announced three confirmed cases of measles in non-Texas residents who spent time in Reeves and Ward counties. Vaccination with the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is the most effective way to prevent measles.

Texas Department of State Health Services (January 27, 2026)

Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against Debra Lynch, a Delaware-based nurse practitioner, who operates a group known as Her Safe Harbor that ships abortion drugs into Texas. In direct violation of Texas law, Her Safe Harbor routinely sends mifepristone and misoprostol to women across state lines. The organization advertises abortion pills by mail and promises delivery to Texas within days.

Attorney General of Texas (January 27, 2026) Paxton, Ken

Unused and out-of-date prescription drugs and over-the-counter medication can now be safely disposed of at CHRISTUS Health locations in East Texas, thanks to a new drug take-back program. Located at the emergency centers at CHRISTUS Health in Athens, Canton and Lindale, the collection receptacles allow for safe disposal of drugs, no questions asked.

CHRISTUS Health (January 21, 2026)

At Cedar Crest Hospital in Belton, Texas, pharmacy leadership spent the past year focused on one core shift: modernizing medication distribution to improve safety in a high-risk psychiatric setting. Edith Okolo, PharmD, director of pharmacy, said 2025 marked a major technology upgrade for the hospital, as it transitioned from legacy dispensing machines to new automated medication cabinets. Okolo described the change as resource-intensive but transformational.

Becker’s Hospital Review (January 26, 2026) Jeffries, Ella

Governor Greg Abbott announced that the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) is making $44 million in grant funding available to eligible hospitals that serve rural communities. The Rural Health Financial Stabilization Grant provides support for rural hospitals determined by HHSC to be at moderate or high risk of financial instability. Each award amount will depend on the facility’s need.

Office of the Texas Governor (January 28, 2026) Abbott, Greg

Weeks from the primary election, Texas Republicans are attacking Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico for a new campaign ad touting his work in passing a statewide cap on out-of-pocket insulin copays, accusing the Austin lawmaker of overstating his role. The ad drew backlash last week from Texas GOP Chair Abraham George, who demanded Talarico “stop misleading Texas voters by falsely claiming credit for Republican-led legislation.”

Texas Tribune (January 27, 2026) Guo, Kayla

NATIONAL NEWS

The House Budget Committee hearing on Jan. 21 focused largely on federal spending and the Affordable Care Act but featured some comments on PBMs. The next day, the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Health, and House Committee on Ways and Means grilled the CEOs of five major health insurance companies on their role in the rising cost of care, including many questions and comments on the role of PBMs in those rising costs.

House Energy and Commerce Committee (January 22, 2026)

House Ways and Means Committee (January 22, 2026) 

Last week, Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) hosted members of the House Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committees, as well as community pharmacy advocates including NCPA members, to talk about the need for insurers to put patients before profits and call out the negative effects that insurer-owned PBMs and vertical integration have on patients, pharmacists, and physicians, such as increased costs and limited care.

United States Representative Buddy Carter (January 26, 2026)

The American Pharmacists Association proudly endorsed the American Academy of Pediatrics’ 2026 Childhood & Adolescent Immunization Schedule. It stands in contrast to the recently downsized CDC schedule. While the CDC reduced its list of recommended vaccines following changes in its advisory committee, the AAP continues to recommend routine protection against 18 diseases. The AAP has formally withdrawn its endorsement of the CDC's schedule.

Pediatrics (January 26, 2026) O’Leary, Sean

The Trump administration on Tuesday announced the next round of prescription drugs up for Medicare price negotiations. The list includes Botox and the GLP-1 drug Trulicity. The drugs selected for this round of negotiation accounted for about $27 billion in total prescription drug spending under Medicare Part B and Part D, according to CMS.

NBC News (January 27, 2026) Lovelace, Berkeley

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Tuesday announced new guidance clarifying how pharmaceutical manufacturers can offer lower-cost prescription drugs directly to patients — including Medicare and Medicaid enrollees — in a manner that’s low risk under the federal anti-kickback statute, so long as key safeguards are met. 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (January 27, 2026)

Nearly half of the databases that the CDC used to update regularly — surveillance systems that tracked public health information like Covid vaccination rates and hospitalizations for respiratory syncytial virus — have been paused without explanation, according to new research. The findings indicate that at the start of 2025, the CDC maintained 82 databases that were updated at least monthly. But by the end of October, the study found, 38 had gone stale.

NBC News (January 26, 2026) Bendix, Aria

CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz spoke during a podcast on the importance of incorporating AI into the country's health care system, specifically mentioning the vital role pharmacies play in caring for rural communities. “Why don't we use pharmacists better?” he asked. “If we just took AI and allowed pharmacists and doctors, GPs, to function at a higher level, it itself would be worth the opportunity. ... There just aren't enough people to take care of rural America.”

All-In Podcast (January 24, 2026)

The Trump administration’s abrupt overhaul of the federal vaccine schedule sent shockwaves through American health care earlier this month. But the biggest impacts are likely to come in the weeks and months ahead, as activists seek to use the momentum to loosen state-level vaccine requirements. Among the most incendiary issues: which shots are required for children to attend day cares and public schools.

Stat (January 29, 2026) Payne, Daniel and Cueto, Isabella

Never-before-released data connects generic drugs to the factories that manufactured them. The data powers Rx Inspector, a groundbreaking tool that allows you to find the factories where your generic drugs were made and their FDA inspection track records. It will allow anyone to connect prescriptions to the facilities they were manufactured in by linking National Drug Code numbers to FDA Establishment Identifiers of drug manufacturing facilities.

ProPublica (January 23, 2026 Roberts, Brandon

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday rescinded unclear guidance implemented under the Biden administration on whether pharmacists are required to keep harmful abortion drugs in stock. The guidance it left in place still subjected pro-life pharmacies to a looming threat from federal bureaucrats. The current administration eliminated the remnants of this mandate by repealing it entirely.

Alliance Defending Freedom (January 27, 2026) Bowman, Matt

TRENDING NEWS

Drug Store News has launched a new campaign that supports pharmacists in filling the healthcare gaps in America. Their position is that the gap between the demand for healthcare and the supply of healthcare is increasing, and community pharmacy can fill it. There is data to back up the potential of pharmacies amid the unsettling trends. NCPA CEO Doug Hoey noted that pharmacists "fill more than just prescriptions; we fill health care gaps.”

Drug Store News (January 27, 2026) Maynard, Nigel

Recent research published in the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy shows that pharmacists and female pharmacy technicians are at a higher risk of suicide compared with their counterparts and the general population. These findings underscore an urgent need for improved workplace policies, mental health resources for health care professionals, and reduced stigma across all pharmacy settings.

American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy (January 8, 2026) Makhija, Hirsh, et al

Walmart is reshaping pharmacy jobs — raising pay and elevating thousands of technician roles as it invests more heavily in pharmacy workers. Walmart has elevated 3,000 roles to pharmacy operations team lead positions that pay an average of $28 an hour, with the potential to earn up to $42 an hour. Pharmacy technicians make $22 an hour on average and will now have the ability to earn more, with increased pay ranges up to $40.50 an hour.

Walmart (January 28, 2026)

Anti-abortion activists remain frustrated, in some cases even more so than before Roe was overturned. Abortions have not stopped taking place, not even in states with complete bans. That’s due in large part to the easier availability of medication abortion, which uses a combination of the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol, and particularly to the pills’ availability via mail after a telehealth visit with a licensed health professional.

KFF Health News (January 23, 2026) Rovner, Julie

Personalized text reminders can improve medication adherence and reduce hospital readmissions for patients with heart failure, according to a study. Patients who engaged with the texts had a 19% higher likelihood of filling prescriptions and a 6% reduction in readmission within 30 days. The study, involving 1,276 patients, underscores the simplicity and effectiveness of text-based interventions in managing chronic conditions.

Medical News Today (January 23, 2026) Morales-Brown, Peter

Routine childhood vaccinations, nor the aluminum used as vaccine adjuvants, are not associated with an increased risk of epilepsy in young children, according to a new case-control study published in The Journal of Pediatrics. The study examined whether being up to date on recommended vaccines or having higher cumulative exposure to vaccine-related aluminum was linked to the development of epilepsy in children under age four.

CIDRAP (January 23, 2026) Bergeson, Laine

Novo Nordisk's Wegovy pill has seen strong initial uptake, with approximately 18,400 prescriptions in its second week, surpassing the initial numbers for injectable Wegovy and Eli Lilly and Co.'s Zepbound. The rapid adoption is positive for Novo as it seeks to regain market share from Lilly, which plans to launch its oral GLP-1 obesity drug, orforglipron, this spring.

Fierce Pharma (January 23, 2026) Kansteiner, Frasier

Nearly two-thirds of patients in a remote blood pressure management program did not take weekly readings as directed, despite receiving free automated devices, education and personalized support. The 35% of patients in the study who regularly monitored their blood pressure at home had a 40% lower risk for heart attack, stroke and premature death than those who did not, researchers reported in JAMA Cardiology.

HealthDay News (January 26, 2026) Thompson, Dennis

The past year for community pharmacy can be summed in one word: mixed. Staffing remains a concern, reimbursement is a nuisance, drug shortages and price increases are still prevalent, and national legislative efforts on PBM reform appear stalled. But pharmacy is still relevant, especially as more states recognize that pharmacists can be an important part of an overburdened healthcare system. And more pharmacists are integrating technology and AI.

Drug Store News (January 26, 2026) Maynard, Nigel

Scientists have discovered the potential of llamas’ antibodies to thwart multiple diseases, and now drug developers are collectively plowing billions of dollars into a field that may yield a fresh generation of life-changing medicines. In between dust baths and grazing, llamas get injections to trigger the production of their precious antibodies. The animals are some of the few to produce the tiny proteins, nanobodies, which are easy to produce, manipulate and engineer.

Bloomberg (January 23, 2026) Pham, Lisa

Texas Pharmacy Today
Editor: Brian Sparks, Director, Communications and Marketing
(512) 615-9140 • bsparks@texaspharmacy.org

Texas Pharmacy Association
RoxAnn Dominguez, Pharm.D., Chief Executive Officer
(512) 615-9147