News

• MEMORANDUM-Cannabidiol (CBD) Products in WV Pharmacies

  9/18/2018
  

  DATE: September 11, 2018

  The West Virginia Board of Pharmacy (“Board”) continues to receive inquiries regarding the sale of Cannabidiol (“CBD”) in pharmacies. The position of the Board is that the sale of CBD products in the pharmacy setting is prohibited.

  There are a number of factors that influenced the Board’s decision, but our duty to protect the public is the most significant.  It has been reported that some of the products contain no CBD, while others not only contain CBD, but also include a significant amount of tetrahydrocannabinol (“THC”). The lack of Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) involvement with the increasing number of these CBD products give us great concern regarding their safety and composition.   

  THC is a schedule I substance in both federal and state law (WV Code § 60A-2-201(d)(32)), so its presence in these CBD products is a violation of both.  The legal status of CBD is less clear, but it appears to be included in the DEA regulations as a schedule I marijuana extract (drug code 7350). The THC issue, and the questions about CBD’s legal status were also a consideration in our decision.

  To date, the only CBD product that has gained FDA approval is Epidiolex. As such, Epidiolex is currently the only CBD product that may be lawfully sold in the pharmacy setting.

• Prescribers for Medicaid Members Must Register with West Virginia Medicaid

  8/30/2018
  On and after October 17, 2018, West Virginia Medicaid will begin to deny all claims for prescriptions written by any prescriber not enrolled with West Virginia Medicaid. This includes hospital residents and interns, advanced  practice nurse practitioners, physician assistants and pharmacists who administer vaccines.   Even though the facility you are employed by (clinic, hospital or pharmacy) is currently enrolled, individual prescribers must also be enrolled.   Failing to enroll with West Virginia Medicaid as a prescribing provider could cause serious consequences for your patients. The requirement for prescribers to enroll is a provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. All prescribers serving Medicaid patients MUST enroll and their name and national provider identifier (NPI) must be recorded on claims for prescription medications submitted for Medicaid members on and after October 17, 2018.  Providers may enroll as a billing provider or an “ordering, referring, or prescribing” (ORP) provider.” “ORP only provider” is a category for prescribers who write orders, refer, or prescribe medications, but do not actually submit claims to Medicaid for their services. “ORP only providers” may not bill Medicaid for services. If you are not already enrolled, you may go to the website of the West Virginia Medicaid claims processor, Molina Medicaid Solutions, at https://www.wvmmis.com and enroll online as a billing provider or as an “ORP only provider.” The quickest enrollment option is the ORP-only online application process, if applicable.  Provider application approval is 5 days from receipt of a completed application. All required documentation can be uploaded to the portal. A paper application can be requested by calling Molina Provider Enrollment at 888-483-0793. To prevent interruptions in Medicaid members’ access to needed prescription medications, prescribers must make sure they are enrolled with West Virginia Medicaid. For questions, please contact Molina Provider Enrollment at 888-483-0793 or the Molina Pharmacy Help Desk at 888-483-0801.

• West Virginia Board of Pharmacy Announces Statewide Electronic Health Record Integration of Prescription Data

  7/6/2018
  WEST VIRGINIA BOARD OF PHARMACY ANNOUNCES STATEWIDE ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD INTEGRATION OF PRESCRIPTION DATA The West Virginia Board of Pharmacy has partnered with Appriss Health to utilize, analyze, and present information from West Virginia’s Controlled Substances Monitoring Program (CSMP) into the clinical workflow of both prescribers and pharmacists via the comprehensive platform NarxCare.  All practitioners who dispense Schedule II, III, IV and V controlled substances or opioid antagonists to residents of West Virginia, must provide the dispensing information to the West Virginia Board of Pharmacy CSMP each 24-hour period.  RxDataTrack/CSAPP is the online CSMP software (Mahantech Corp.) used by the Board to track these substances.  NarxCare will integrate this CSMP information, as well as additional data sources, into Electronic Health Records or Pharmacy Management Systems to empower clinicians to identify patients that may be at risk for prescription drug addiction, overdose and death, and equips those clinicians and care teams with the advanced analytics, tools and technology they need to help those patients. These invaluable insights and tools can be presented and accessed within clinical workflow, up front, for every patient, every time. NarxCare provides machine learning and artificial intelligence-based patient risk scores, prescription data, patient safety alerts and other information in a visually interactive format to help prescribers and pharmacists quickly identify potential signs of addiction/overdose. NarxCare also helps clinicians connect patients with additional resources within their community if needed, such as medication-assisted treatment. By obtaining CSMP prescription information through PMP Gateway, which can include data from neighboring states, this one-click workflow process eliminates the need for prescribers and pharmacists to manually log into the WV CSMP website separately and then enter a patient’s name and demographics to search for them. The new NarxCare platform will be made available at no cost to all West Virginia healthcare providers via their electronic health record and pharmacy management system vendors. (It is important to note that not all vendors are currently integrated. Your integration process and duration time is dependent upon your vendor). For more detailed information about the integration process, please visit: https://info.apprisshealth.com/wvehrintregrationrequest

• Informational Fax 5/15/2018

  5/15/2018
  West Virginia Board of Pharmacy 2310 Kanawha Boulevard East Charleston, WV 25311 (304) 558-0558 An information FAX for WV pharmacies from the Chief Compliance Officer      1.    One of the most significant actions the West Virginia Legislature undertook during the 2018 Regular Session was the enactment of The Chronic Pain Clinic Licensing Act of 2018 which will take effect on June 7, 2018. This Act has far reaching limitations on the prescribing of opioid drugs. Pharmacists need to be fully aware of the restrictions it places on most all medical and dental providers. Those limitations are too many to try and list in a one-page fax, but they can be found in the section §16-54-4. Opioid prescription limitations outlined in the code titled: CHAPTER 16. PUBLIC HEALTH. ARTICLE 5H. CHRONIC PAIN CLINIC LICENSING ACT. Below is a link that you can use to find and download a copy of this law: (You might also find the law by googling WV SB 273 of 2018) http://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2018_SESSIONS/RS/bills/SB273%20SUB2%20ENR.pdf      2.    Additional action by the Legislature places gabapentin in the list of Schedule V Controlled Drugs and now requires ALL Schedule V drugs to be reported to the monitoring program.    3.    A PDF version of the WVBOP Law & Rule Book is now available on the Board website and may be downloaded for your personal use. It may be found by pointing at the LAWS tab on the  upper right-hand corner of the Home Page and then clicking on Most Recent Law Editions. The 2018 edition includes actions taking by the Legislature this year. If you have an up to date version of Adobe Reader you should be able to search the book for answers by using key words. Please be advised that your pharmacy must also have a printed copy of the most recent published version (currently 2017).    4.    The DEA has won a case in court and CBD Oil (which may contain up to 15% CBD) is now considered a Schedule I drug and should not be stocked or sold in a pharmacy. Hemp Oil or Hempseed oil, which is an extract of hemp seeds, contains less than 25 parts per million CBD may be sold in West Virginia at present.    5.    The WVBOP Legislative Rules committee is working on changes in the Rules to permit the employment of non-registered cashiers in the pharmacy area. That change has been submitted to the Legislature but probably will not be approved until the 2019 session.    6.    Effective today, May 7, 2018, the medical license of Stephen Scott Brown, M.D. was revoked by the West Virginia Board of Medicine.  Accordingly, Dr. Brown is no longer authorized to prescribe.  Effective at 11:59 p.m. today, May 7, 2018, the podiatric license of Steven Scott Melek, D.P.M. will be suspended by the West Virginia Board of Medicine.  Please be advised that while his license is suspended, Dr. Melek is not authorized to prescribe.