CRA efforts on behalf of CCPC members for the week of October 9, 2023

Legislative Updates

The CRA team sent a letter to Senator Newman regarding our concerns with the Board of Pharmacy’s interpretation of SB 362 (pharmacy quotas bill from 2021) and related enforcement.

The CRA team is also tracking all actions Governor Newsom is taking on bills through the October 14 bill signing deadline. All CCPC priority bills have been acted upon as follows:

• AB 1286 (Haney) Medication Error Reporting/Staffing Floor/Tech Duties/Ratio - SIGNED (CCPC Oppose)
• AB 1341 (Berman) Pharmacists dispensing Paxlovid/Administering non-oral SUD treatment - SIGNED (CCPC Support)
• AB 317 (Weber) Reimbursement for Pharmacist Services - SIGNED (CCPC Support)
• SB 816 (Roth) Pharmacy Fee Increases (CCPC Watch)
• AB 782 (McKinnor) Compounding Exception for Flavoring - VETOED -view veto message here (CCPC Support)

Medi-Cal Rx Updates

Humatin/Tabloid Support and Information

There is another drug impacted by Reject 85 and a pathway for access to therapy similar to Humatin and Tabloid to assist with access to therapy. The drug impacted is Regranex 0.01% Gel. Please take note of the updated version of the communication, which now includes Regranex. View the communication HERE.

Reinstatement of Reject Code 76

Medi-Cal Rx recently published an alert on the reinstatement of Reject Code 76, effective October 13, 2023. Read the alert HERE.

Board of Pharmacy

Upcoming BoP Meetings

The next BoP Licensing Committee Meeting is Wednesday, October 18. View the meeting materials including agenda HERE. The Licensing Committee will be discussing remote processing, the tech ratio and central fill, among other issues. 

The next BoP Enforcement and Compounding Committee Meeting is Thursday, October 19. View the meeting materials including agenda HERE.

CURES Update

Notice to Licensees Regarding CURES Version Update

Beginning August 1, 2024, all California dispensers of controlled substances will be required to report dispensations to the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES) using version 4.2B of the American Society of Automation in Pharmacy (ASAP) format. On and after this date, data submitted using the current CURES ASAP version 4.1 format will no longer be accepted.

Prompt action by licensees who dispense controlled substances is recommended. Technical implementation of this update to data submission software may take considerable time. Contact your data submission software provider and confirm they are preparing for this upcoming ASAP version change.

For more information about the ASAP format change and suggested action steps for data submitters, please see the Department of Justice informational bulletin entitled “New File Format for Reporting to CURES” on the Office of the Attorney General’s CURES Website.

For information about CURES, visit DCA’s CURES information page.