Important legislative items: Time sensitive

Hi Eric,

You're a hero in my book for having done this! I've talked with several pharmacists in Kalispell that have asked how they could become part of your blog, and your thought of going statewide is a good one! We definitely don't have that sort of network now, and I'm disappointed that word doesn't seem to have gotten out about most of these important issues.

I testified on SB397 on Monday afternoon before the House Human Services committee. EBMS had two proponents: an attorney and one of their execs. There were three opponents: Starla Blank from the BOP, Jim Smith from MPA and myself. I've attached my written testimony, and pretty much spoke ad lib about drug interactions, patient counseling and companies such as EBMS making purely business decisions that negatively affect the medical care our patients receive. A Representative from Scobey, Julie French, had to be the hero of the day. She's a PT tech, so knows a thing or two about the medical community's responsibility toward its patients. She peppered the two proponents with very astute questions, and at one point the attorney was silent for roughly 20-30 seconds trying to think of an answer and collect her thoughts. That's unusual to see...I'm married to one, so I feel I can say that!

SB397 is still in committee, and its primary sponsor, Sen. Kim Gillan, is working to come up with amendments to cover the points that were raised on Monday, including a definition of "employer-based onsite clinic". Kim is a good person and a good legislator, but I disagree with her on the merits of SB397. If "employer-based onsite clinic" is not adequately defined, we run the same risk that we did in the 90's with the Naturopaths when the legislature passed enabling legislation but neglected to define "natural products". As you know, Naturopaths now can prescribe nearly the entire arsenal of antibiotics with the exception of the quinolones (totally synthetic) and can also prescribe Oxycontin. I've spoken with one legislator who was on one of the committees that heard and passed the original bill in the 90's, and her comment on learning how far the scope of Naturopath prescribing had gone in a period of 10 years was (excuse me) "Holy Shit!" That was apparently far from their original intent.

If every pharmacist receiving this could forward the message to all pharmacists they know, asking them to contact their area legislators on the House Human Services committee re. SB397, asking those legislators to vote to table the bill or suggest "do not pass" that would be very helpful. They can use some of my attached comments if they'd like, but most likely have plenty of their own. Starla Blank has e-mailed to me a list of some of the pharmacists in home towns of legislators on the Human Services Committee, and I've been calling those pharmacists yesterday and today to get the word out. We need to do this quickly, as SB397 won't sit in committee forever. Here's that list, thanks again to Starla:

Stoker, Ron – Darby (no pharmacy) (Becky will call Wayne Hedman in Hamilton and others)
McGillvray, Tom – Billings Shannon Robison 656-8188
Becker, Arlene – Billings Margie nafts 237-8100
Caferro, Mary - Helena
Dutton, Ernie – Billings Dan Jurovich 259-2562
French, Julie – Scobey Robert Haugo 487-5911
Ingraham, Pat – Thompson Falls S. Shear 827-4349
Jones, Bill – Conrad Jesse Parks 278-3267 Peter McKeone 271-3211
Kerns, Krayton - Laurel Carl Wallila 628-8747, John Barsness 628-7217, Robert Baldner 628-6022
McAlpin, David - Missoula
Milburn, Mike – Cascade (no pharmacy)
Peterson, Ken – Billings Ed Kent 657-4155
Reinhart, Michele - Missoula
Sands, Diane - Missoula
Starla is also hunting for pharmacists that would be willing to testify in favor of SB326, the Prescription Drug Program Monitoring bill at 8AM tomorrow (03/22) before the House Judiciary committee. We're surrounded by states that have already implemented such programs, or at least authorized them legislatively. A PDMP is not a fishing expedition, but a secure electronic program to which pharmacists e-mail an electronic record of CII-CV prescriptions they've filled. It has the potential to save patient's lives. Boards set fall-out parameters (say, more than 15 controlled substance prescriptions filled by one patient per month) and receive regular reports according to those parameters. It's strictly confidential, and unauthorized use or misuse of information gained is a felony. Such a program would be valuable to physicians seeing a patient for the first time, and would either validate their decision to prescribe or send up a red flag for further investigation. If a patient is a chronic pain patient, that explanation alone would not prevent them from receiving the medications they need. Such a program would also be useful to pharmacists...we all have patients we worry about more than others, and pharmacists could inquire and receive an activity report (all confidentially) if the patient in question is utilizing multiple pharmacies. That would be nothing we couldn't do by calling around to other pharmacies, but it would be much less time-consuming. The bill would hopefully catch doctor shoppers and loose prescribers at an early stage, and potentially save some lives. Your verbal or written testimony would be welcome. Here's a list of the House Judiciary Committee:


Member
Assignment
David Niss
Legislative Branch Staffer
Diane Rice
Chair
Pam Schindler
Secretary
Dave Gallik
Vice Chair
Ron Stoker
Vice Chair
Douglas Cordier
Member
Robyn Driscoll
Member
Bob Ebinger
Member
George Everett
Member
Julie French
Member
Rick Jore
Member
Krayton Kerns
Member
Roger Koopman
Member
Tom McGillvray
Member
Deborah Kottel
Member
Jesse O'Hara
Member
Ken Peterson
Member
Holly Raser
Member
John Ward

Time is of the essence with both of these bills. Please do your part to spread the word and contact your legislators (especially those on the committees listed) today.

Becky Deschamps