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OIG Exclusion Programs and Board of Pharmacy Disciplinary Actions (Resolution No. 103-1-07)
Resolution Number: 103-1-07
Title: OIG Exclusion Programs and Board of Pharmacy Disciplinary Actions
Action: Passed
Whereas, Title XI of the Social Security Act (Sections 1128, 1156, and 1892) legally authorizes the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Health and Human Services to exclude entities convicted of program-related crimes, patient abuse or neglect, and other felonies from participation in any federal health care program, including Medicare and Medicaid; and
Whereas, pharmacists, who have been disciplined by boards of pharmacy for violations unrelated to fraud or abuse of federal health care programs and who have complied with conditions mandated by boards of pharmacy, have been subsequently barred by the OIG from participation in federal health care programs as a result of those same violations by means of inclusion on the OIG “List of Excluded Individuals/Entities”; and
Whereas, such actions taken on the part of the OIG result in additional punitive actions, which are beyond those actions or terms determined by the boards of pharmacy and, in effect, restrict those pharmacists from practice after the licenses have been reinstated by the boards; and
Whereas, NABP and boards of pharmacy are concerned that these actions overall demonstrate a lack of recognition by the OIG of the pharmacy boards’ role in protecting the public health and the authority of boards of pharmacy to regulate pharmacists; and
Whereas, NABP has previously expressed these concerns to the OIG as a result of a formal recommendation issued by the NABP Executive Committee and 2005-2006 Committee of Law Enforcement/Legislation;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that NABP increase its dialogue with the OIG and with state and national pharmacy stakeholders, congressional representatives, and other constituencies, and develop, if necessary, legislation to amend applicable provisions of the Social Security Act that would support the collaboration between the state boards of pharmacy and the OIG to ensure that pharmacists disciplined by boards of pharmacy for certain violations are not automatically subject to OIG exclusionary actions.
(Resolution passed at the NABP 103rd Annual Meeting, Portland, OR)
