Board News & Announcements

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CLICK HERE TO READ THE APRIL 2012 NEWSLETTER

THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2012

Oregon Board of Pharmacy Report on New Types of Controlled Substance Diversion Scams

This item appeared in the May 2012 Oregon Board of Pharmacy Newsletter (which may be found in its entirety here: http://www.nabp.net/publications/assets/OR052012.pdf). North Carolina pharmacists may find the descriptions of new diversion schemes informative. Thanks to Gary Schnabel, the Oregon Board of Pharmacy’s Executive Director, for graciously allowing North Carolina Board staff to excerpt the article here.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 2012 - REMINDER

The North Carolina Board of Pharmacy no longer accepts checks as of May 1, 2012. Acceptable forms of payment include Visa, MasterCard, and Discover.

TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012

Fourth Annual Prescription and OTC Pill Drop Off - Saturday, May 19, 2012

The Substance Abuse Advisory Commission of the City of Raleigh and the Raleigh Police Department will hold their fourth annual prescription and over the counter pill drop-off on Saturday, May 19, 2012, from 10am to 2pm. (Click here for details and FAQs about the pill drop-off.)

Last year we collected over 121,500 in four hours. Help us beat that total this year! To participate in this free event, simply bring your unneeded and expired medication, no questions asked, to the following four stores for safe disposal:

- Food Lion at 4510 Capital Blvd
- Food Lion at 5633 Creedmoor Road
- Food Lion at 2420 Wycliff Road
- Kroger at 1610 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd

For more information contact the Community Services Department at 996-6100 or visit http://www.raleighnc.gov/home/content/BoardsCommissions/Articles/SubstanceAdvisory.html.

NEW CE OPPORTUNITIES FOR 2012: PHARMACISTS & TECHNICIANS, Remember to check our CE page often for upcoming CE programs in your area. (LAST UPDATED MAY 8, 2012.)

TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2012

SUMMARY SUSPENSION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE REGISTRATION FOR DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PHYSICIAN ALEN SALERIAN. District of Columbia officials today notified the Board of Pharmacy of the summary suspension of Dr. Alen Salerian’s controlled substance registration. Any North Carolina pharmacy receiving a controlled substance prescription written by Dr. Salerian must not fill it. More information is found here.

THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 2012

Another Counterfeit Drug Product Places Cancer Patients in US at Risk, FDA Warns

Another counterfeit version of a cancer drug has been found in United States medical practices, placing patients at risk, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns. The counterfeit version of Roche’s Altuzan® 400 mg/16 ml (bevacizumab), an injectable cancer medication, originated from a foreign source and FDA lab tests have confirmed that it contains no active ingredient. FDA specifies that packaging and vials found in the US that claim to be Roche’s Altuzan with lot number B6021 should be considered counterfeit. Images of the counterfeit product are included in an FDA news release.

Click here to read more.

MONDAY, APRIL 9, 2012 - Update from the NC Department of Health & Human Services Division of Medical Assistance regarding tamper-resistant prescription pads (click here to read).

TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2012 - PHOTO ID FAQ UPDATED

Questions Regarding S.L. 2011-349, Photo Identification Prior to Dispensing Certain Controlled Substances

As reported in Item 2227 of the October 2011 Newsletter, the North Carolina General Assembly passed, and Governor Perdue signed into law S.L. 2011-349, which requires presentation of a photo identification prior to the dispensing of certain controlled substances. The statute is an amendment to the North Carolina Controlled Substances Act and codified at N.C.G.S. § 90-106.1 and is effective March 1, 2012. Board staff has received numerous questions about this statute. In response, Board staff has developed an FAQ document.

The FAQ has been updated several times since January 5. All pharmacists should review the updates to questions #3, #5, #12, and new questions #11 and #20.

Because this law is part of the NC CSA, the Drug Control Unit of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services also has administrative responsibilities for the statute. Bill Bronson, the head of that unit, has reviewed this FAQ and agrees with its content. CLICK HERE TO READ THE FAQs.

February 28, 2012 - UNC Healthcare has prepared documents that it is sharing with staff and patients concerning implementation of this statute. UNC has made these documents available for other pharmacies’ use as a template for staff and patient communication:

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2012

CHANGES TO CONTINUING EDUCATION APPROVAL PROCESS BEGINNING MARCH 1, 2012

Beginning March 1, 2012, the Board of Pharmacy will no longer approve requests for continuing education courses that are not accredited by ACPE or the North Carolina Association of Pharmacists (“NCAP”). The reasons for the change in policy are two-fold: (1) the volume of such requests has increased substantially in the past two years, hindering Board staff’s ability to focus on the Board’s core functions; and (2) relatedly, Board staff is concerned about its ability to assess these requests for substantive acceptability as continuing education courses.

Continuing education programs approved by Board staff on or before February 29, 2012 will remain available on the Board CE page and may be used for 2013 license renewal.

Going forward, the Board will continue to provide credit for certain categories of non-ACPE, non-NCAP continuing education (e.g., Board Meeting Attendance, CPR Training, Precepting, Residency, Spanish or Other Foreign Language Class, Continuing Medical Education, Continuing Nursing Education, Continuing Dental Education). Those categories should be well known to North Carolina pharmacists and can be reviewed in the FAQ section of the Board website: (http://www.ncbop.org/faqs/Pharmacist/faq_ContEducation.htm).

Any pharmacist or organization in need of approval of a CE program may contact NCAP, which stands willing and able to provide accreditation services. Information about NCAP accreditation services may be found here: http://www.ncpharmacists.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=106.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

REMINDER: ACCREDITATION COUNCIL FOR PHARMACY EDUCATION (ACPE) REQUIRES PHARMACISTS TO OBTAIN A UNIQUE ID AS PART OF CPE MONITOR INITIATIVE. As the new year begins, Board staff reminds pharmacists that ACPE and the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy have launched “CPE Monitor” – an electronic system for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to track completed continuing pharmacy education credits. Participation in CPE Monitor requires pharmacists to obtain an NABP e-Profile ID. The e-Profile ID is required by ACPE to receive continuing education credits from ACPE-accredited providers.

Click on the links below for more information:

Set up your NABP e-Profile to obtain your ID here.

Please note: North Carolina pharmacists will still be required to self-report all continuing education into their Board of Pharmacy account through their personal log-on at the Board’s website. ACPE (or ACPE providers) will not download continuing education information into your Board of Pharmacy account.

Health Advisories (last updated April 12, 2012) - Check here regularly for the latest alerts and recall notices.

Medicare/Medicaid (last updated April 9, 2012) - Check here regularly for the latest updates regarding Medicare/Medicaid.

Looking for a news item that is no longer here? Try our search page or send an email to Kristin Moore.

The North Carolina Board of Pharmacy's mission is to protect the public health, safety and welfare in pharmaceutical matters. The Board sets standards for academic and practical experience programs prior to licensure, issues permits to operate pharmacies and DME facilities, and annually renews licenses, permits and registrations.

For more information, please see About the NCBOP.