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NABP e-News: July 09, 2008
DEA Publishes Proposed Rule on Electronic Prescriptions for Controlled Substances
On June 27, 2008, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) published in the Federal Register a proposed rule to revise its regulations to allow the electronic prescribing of controlled substances. The rule would give practitioners the option to write prescriptions for controlled substance electronically and would permit pharmacies to receive, dispense, and archive these e-prescriptions for controlled substances. E-prescriptions would supplement, not replace, the current system of prescribing controlled substances. DEA notes that the proposed regulations would reduce paperwork for DEA registrants who dispense or prescribe controlled substances, and they have the potential to reduce prescription forgery, prevent prescription errors caused by illegible handwriting and misunderstood oral prescriptions, and enable more direct integration of prescription records with other medical records. DEA will accept comments on the proposed rule (DEA Docket No. 218P) through September 25 at dea.diversion.policy@usdoj.gov or via electronic comment form at www.regulations.gov. The proposed rule is available in the Federal Register.
SureScripts, RxHub Merge to Expand e-Prescribing Network
SureScripts and RxHub, the two largest networks for electronic prescription transactions in the United States, merged on June 30, 2008. The consolidation of both operations will form a single secure national network for the exchange of prescription related data among physicians, pharmacies, and prescription benefit management organizations. Both organizations were launched in 2001. RxHub was founded by three large prescription benefits management organizations, including CVS Caremark, Medco Health Solutions, and Express Scripts. SureScripts was formed by the National Association of Chain of Drug Stores and the National Community of Pharmacists Association. RxHub’s expertise in patient identification and delivering drug benefit information to the physician at the point of care complements SureScripts’ focus on electronic prescription routing from the physician’s office to the pharmacy. The merger combines these strengths with a shared focus on more access to patient medication history, enabling physicians to access patient health information and transmit e-prescriptions and renewal requests to pharmacies. More information is available at www.surescriptsrxhub.com.
NABPLEX/MPJE Candidate Eligibility Based on Actual Graduation Dates
NABP has become aware that some candidates for the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination™ (NAPLEX® ) and Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination® (MPJE® ) are declaring their graduation date on their registration applications prior to actual completion of all graduation requirements. This situation is creating problems for candidates, the state boards of pharmacy, and NABP. Students who report to have graduated before their actual graduation date have had their applications for licensure transfer rejected by some states and have been asked to retake the NAPLEX. To avoid this situation and to preserve the uniformity among the state boards and the colleges and schools of pharmacy, NABP requests the boards’ cooperation in determining candidates’ eligibility dates to be on or after their confirmed graduation date. Alternatively, students may be ineligible for score transfers to other states.
FDA Takes Action Against Companies Marketing Unapproved Injectable Colchicine
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is taking action against companies marketing injectable colchicine, which is an unapproved form of the drug. Colchicine tablets are not affected by FDA's action at this time. The injectable form of colchicine is especially hazardous because the therapeutic index is very narrow. Adding to the problem, certain side effects that might alert the clinician that the dose is too high do not appear until the patient has already reached toxic levels. Because of its toxicity and the availability of safer therapies, injectable colchicine is rarely used to treat gout anymore, but some practitioners prescribe it to treat back pain. FDA states that the risks of this treatment outweigh the benefits. FDA also cautions pharmacies against compounding injectable colchicine products. Because of the drug’s toxicity and narrow therapeutic index, any errors that occur during compounding can have potentially fatal consequences. More information is available in the FDA MedWatch Safety Alert at www.fda.gov/medwatch/safety/2008/safety08.htm#colchicine.
