Drug Topics - November 12, 2007 - (Page 14)

14 DRUG TOPICS NOVEMBER 12, 2007 www.drugtopics.com > > > The Week at a Glance Friday 11/2/07 ASHP talking to Congress about loan forgiveness for graduates ASHP is talking to Congressional staff members about expanding loan forgiveness programs to pharmacists. On its Web site, the organization said it considers additional forgiveness programs to be “an important mechanism to expand patient access to the critically needed services of pharmacists to improve medication therapy outcomes, prevent harm, and reduce overall healthcare costs through more effective medication use.” ASHP is hoping to expand loan forgiveness programs beyond the borders of individual states such as Minnesota and Nebraska, which forgive academic loans to pharmacists practicing in certain designated rural areas. ASHP members can submit comments to Joseph Hill, director of federal legislative affairs, at gad@ashp.org. drug will be off-limits to them as of next year. The company added that it had destroyed four batches of the drug deemed unsuitable for use in the eyes because FDA inspectors had raised concerns about its continuing use for eyes. Had the drug not been compounded for ocular use, Genentech could have sold the batches at a market value of more than $200 million. Complaint filed against pharmacies for absence of translation On Oct. 30, Make the Road New York, an organization dedicated to promoting economic justice, equality, and opportunities for all New Yorkers, held a protest in front of Rite Aid in Woodside, Queens, charging New York City pharmacies with discriminating against non-Englishspeaking patients. Demonstrators announced the filing of a civil rights complaint with New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office that includes testimonies from more than 20 individuals who allegedly have suffered discrimination at New York City pharmacies. CVS, Duane Reade, Kraupner Pharmacy, Hamtini Pharmacy, Wal-Mart Pharmacy, Walgreens, and Rite Aid were among the pharmacies mentioned in the complaint. The complaint was filed by Make the Road New York, the New York Immigration Coalition, and New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. “From our investigation, it was clear that significant numbers of limitedEnglish-proficient patients were not receiving the translation and interpretation services that pharmacies have to provide by law,” said Theo Oshiro, director of health advocacy at Make the Road New York. CVS issued a statement that said, “CVS/pharmacy offers a program of language interpretation services to supplement the bilingual abilities of our store personnel in assisting pharmacy customers who speak a language other than English. All CVS/pharmacy stores have access to telephonic language interpretation services to provide prescription drug counseling to pharmacy customers who are not proficient in English. These Language Line services allow for customer translation in more than 150 languages. In addition, we are currently running a pilot test in selected New York locations for a video translation service.” Walgreens issued the following response: “We are surprised that a Walgreens pharmacy could have been included in this complaint. We have taken strong measures to ensure that all patients, regardless of their native language, can get the vital information they need about their medications. We have offered prescription labels in as many as 14 languages for years. Two years ago, we also launched a service that allows us to search for a Walgreens pharmacist on duty anywhere in the country who CMS adds new complaint category for Part D plans CMS has announced that it is creating a new complaint category for “best available evidence” issues and will monitor Medicare Part D prescription drug plan compliance with its policy. The best available evidence policy requires plans to establish procedures for resolving problems when information is not accurate for lowincome beneficiaries who are denied coverage at the point of sale. CMS requires Part D plans to work with pharmacies to resolve these issues when beneficiaries present the best available evidence of correct low-income status. According to CMS, each plan’s pharmacy help desk should be staffed with trained individuals prepared to assist pharmacists and receive the documentation so that system changes to correct cost-sharing levels can be implemented as soon as possible. Genentech to stop supplying Avastin to compounders next year Genentech, maker of the cancer drug bevacizumab (Avastin), had previously announced it would stop selling the drug to compounding pharmacies as of Nov. 30. In a new letter posted on its Web site, the drugmaker said it would delay the date to Jan. 1. The San Francisco firm said it pushed back the date following a meeting it held with ophthalmology leaders and retina specialists. Compounding pharmacies have been preparing bevacizumab in small doses on an off-label basis for patients with macular degeneration. Genentech explained that the FDA is concerned about the safety of these compounded preparations, so unless the agency gives the company authorization to resume supply to compounding pharmacies, the http://www.drugtopics.com http://www.drugtopics.com/drugtopics/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=382514 http://www.drugtopics.com/drugtopics/Drug+Topics+Daily+News/Manufacturer-cuts-off-compounding-pharmacies-acces/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/465168?contextCategoryId=10239&searchString=avastin

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Drug Topics - November 12, 2007 Contents Drugs Often Associated with Errors Wanted: More Convers to Drug Decision Tools MSRA Takeoff Raising Alarm Bells U.S. Still Volnerable to Drug Counterfeiting Strange Rx Stories: Are You Stupid? Are Students a Squandered Opportunity The Week at a Glance

Drug Topics - November 12, 2007

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