Pink Sheet is part of Pharma Intelligence UK Limited

This site is operated by Pharma Intelligence UK Limited, a company registered in England and Wales with company number 13787459 whose registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. The Pharma Intelligence group is owned by Caerus Topco S.à r.l. and all copyright resides with the group.

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use. For high-quality copies or electronic reprints for distribution to colleagues or customers, please call +44 (0) 20 3377 3183

Printed By

UsernamePublicRestriction

IOWA PHARMACISTS WOULD BE ALLOWED TO SELECT THERAPEUTIC ALTERNATIVES

Executive Summary

IOWA PHARMACISTS WOULD BE ALLOWED TO SELECT THERAPEUTIC ALTERNATIVES to an Rx when authorized by the prescriber, under legislation that cleared the Iowa General Assembly May 3. The measure passed the State's House May 2 by a vote of 85-12, and the Senate May 3 by a 30-18 vote. It was sent to Iowa's GOP Gov. Terry Branstad for his consideration. Pfizer, Lilly and other Rx drug mfrs. oppose the measure. The legislation, introduced on behalf of the Iowa Pharmacists Assn. by Rep. Bob Arnold (D-Davenport) as House File (HF) 315, would, if okayed by Branstad, legitimize practices of hospital pharmacists who work off of formulary systems, the Iowa assn.'s Exec Director Thomas Temple said. The authority for pharmacists to select therapeutic alternates could also apply to other authorized health-care settings, such as HMOs and clinics, Temple explained. Community pharmacists could also select therapeutic alternates under HF 315 if they dispensed drugs for an HMO whose physicians had authorized such substitution, Temple said. Joining the Iowa Pharmacists Assn. in support of the legislation was the lowa Medical Society and Iowa Hospital Assn. Temple reported that Iowa's Board of Pharmacy Examiners and Board of Medical Examiners would, under the legislation, jointly adopt rules to regulate the practice of selecting therapeutic alternates. Another provision of HF 315 would modify Iowa's drug-product-selection law by permitting the pharmacist to keep up to 50% of the savings between a prescribed brandname drug and a dispensed generic, instead of requiring him to pass on the full difference. This provision would give the pharmacist incentive to stock generic equivalents, as well as provide savings to patients, Temple said. HF 315 would also repeal a requirement for a "negative formulary" which since 1976 has listed "nonequivalent" drug products under the selection law; the legislation would give pharmacists an opportunity to exercise professional judgment for drug substitution without the negative formulary.

You may also be interested in...



Part D Discount Liability Coming Into Focus: CMS Releases Drug Cost Data

Newly released Medicare Part D data sheds light on the sales hit that branded pharmaceutical manufacturers will face when the coverage gap discount program gets under way in 2011

FDA Skin Infections Guidance Spurs Debate On Endpoint Relevance

FDA appears headed for a showdown with clinicians and the pharmaceutical industry over the proposed new clinical trial endpoints for acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections, the guidance's approach for justifying a non-inferiority margin and proposed changes in the types of patients that should be enrolled in trials

Shire Hopes To Sow Future Deals With $50M Venture Fund

Specialty drug maker Shire has quietly begun scouting deals with a brand-new $50 million venture fund, the latest of several in-house investment arms to launch with their parent company's pipelines, not profits, as the measure of their worth

Latest Headlines
See All
UsernamePublicRestriction

Register

PS008346

Ask The Analyst

Ask the Analyst is free for subscribers.  Submit your question and one of our analysts will be in touch.

Your question has been successfully sent to the email address below and we will get back as soon as possible. my@email.address.

All fields are required.

Please make sure all fields are completed.

Please make sure you have filled out all fields

Please make sure you have filled out all fields

Please enter a valid e-mail address

Please enter a valid Phone Number

Ask your question to our analysts

Cancel