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Minnesota Board of Pharmacy |
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Minnesota Board of Pharmacy |
DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS. No disciplinary actions were finalized by the Board since the December 1 cut off date of the last newsletter.
BOARD ELECTS NEW OFFICERS. As is its custom, the Board of Pharmacy, at its January meeting, elected new officers for 1999. Elected to the position of Board President was Mr. Charles Cooper, Director of Pharmacy at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.
Elected to the position of Vice President, for 1999, was Mr. Jeffery Lindoo, Director of Long Term Care for Thrifty White Pharmacies. Mr. Lindoo is from Alexandria.
Mr. Cooper and Mr. Lindoo will serve as President and Vice President, respectively, until the Board's meeting of January 2000.
BOARD OF PHARMACY IS Y2K COMPLIANT, ARE YOU? After a substantial investment of time, effort, and money over the last 15 months, the Board of Pharmacy is pleased that the Board's activities are now fully Year 2000 compliant.
As you might imagine, the Board's licensing system was filled with two-digit date fields. Examples include dates of birth, dates of graduation, dates of licensure, dates of continuing education participation, dates of last inspection of pharmacies, dates, dates, dates, and more dates. All of these date fields had to be restructured as four-digit dates, rather than two-digit dates, and the programming that utilized these dates needed to be corrected.
Rather than starting over from scratch with an entirely new licensing system, which would have been prohibitively expensive, the Board opted to re-do the existing licensing system in a manner which would allow it to deal with the Year 2000 issue. We are pleased that our new Y2K compliant system is now up and running. Licensees can be assured that the Board will be able to continue to operate smoothly when the Year 2000 arrives.
Hopefully, the pharmacists-in-charge of each Minnesota pharmacy have made sure that pharmacy's software packages are also Year 2000 compliant. It, obviously, would be devastating for pharmacy operations, as well as for patients, if pharmacy computer systems crashed next January 1.
HPSP REMINDER. The Board of Pharmacy is one of the nine health licensing boards that participates in the Health Professionals Services Program (HPSP), which is a professionally-staffed, confidential program designed to monitor the treatment and continuing care of eligible, regulated health professionals. Specifically, the program serves individuals who may be unable to practice with reasonable skill and safety if their illness is not appropriately managed. HPSP monitors regulated health professionals with illnesses in areas of chemical dependency, mental health, and other physical or medical conditions.
The program is not a professional support network, a treatment provider, or an enforcement agency.
The participating boards utilize the services of HPSP as an alternative to the disciplinary process. Instead of taking disciplinary action against licensees for chemical dependency situations, the participating boards may refer licensees to monitoring by HPSP. Licensed individuals may also self-report to HPSP for assistance in their recovery. Individuals, who self-report to HPSP and who successfully complete the terms of the individual's monitoring plan, remain confidential and do not come to the attention of the licensing board through HPSP participation. If an individual, who has self-reported to HPSP, fails to live up to the agreed upon monitoring plan, the individual will be referred to the Board.
For more information on the services provided by HPSP, phone (651) 643-2120. (more info)
PSEUDOEPHIDRINE SALES NEED TO BE MONITORED. Clandestine Methamphetamine Labs, in Minnesota, continue to utilize PSEUDOEPHEDRINE as a starting point for the creation of illicit Methamphetamine. A Minnesota pharmacist recently reported that a single individual purchased $112 worth of Pseudoephedrine, packaged in 24-count packages. Unfortunately, the clerk simply rang up the purchase and the individual left with all of the pharmacy's Pseudoephedrine.
Pharmacists must make sure that clerical staff are familiar with the need to bring such suspicious sales to the attention of the pharmacist before the sale is made. Pharmacists also have a duty to report such suspicious sales to DEA.
Pharmacists can play an important role in controlling the illicit manufacturing of Methamphetamine by educating clerical staff and keeping an eye on the movement of Pseudoephedrine.
PHARMACISTS AND HERBAL REMEDIES. The use of herbal remedies is becoming more and more prevalent among the general population. Pharmacists have a responsibility to become knowledgeable about herbal remedies and, when gathering demographic data for patient profiles, pharmacists must be sure to specifically ask patients about the use of herbal remedies.
Pharmacists are encouraged to obtain a good reference source of information on herbal remedies. Specifically, the reference should include information on toxicity and drug interactions associated with the various herbal products.
Currently, an Ad Hoc Committee of concerned pharmacists is working to develop a repository of accurate information on herbal remedies in conjunction with the Minnesota Pharmacists Association. Once this library of information is pulled together, pharmacists will be able to access the information through a number of modalities.
Watch for further information on this library of herbal information.
CHANGES IN THE RECIPROCITY PROCESS. Effective January 1, 1999, the Board of Pharmacy is no longer limiting its Reciprocity Examinations to four times a year. The Board has now begun using the computerized Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination as its Reciprocity Law Exam. Candidates for licensure by reciprocity are now able to sit for the law exam at any time. Since the examination is now computerized, it is not even necessary for the candidate to come to Minnesota in order to take the exam.
It is anticipated that this change will allow candidates for licensure by reciprocity to obtain licensure in Minnesota on a more flexible schedule.
In calendar year 1998, 99 pharmacists filed applications to transfer into Minnesota. On the other hand, during the same time period, 89 Minnesota licensed pharmacists filed applications to transfer their license out of Minnesota. While these numbers show a gain of ten pharmacists over the course of 1998, the exact number that actually come to Minnesota and begin practicing, or who actually leave Minnesota and begin practicing somewhere else is unknown.
50 YEAR PHARMACISTS. The Board of Pharmacy congratulates the following Minnesota pharmacists, who were originally licensed 50 or more years ago, who continue to maintain their active license and who have devoted at least a half century of service to the public and to the profession: Howard R. Johnson (1934), Joe Goldman (1936), Warren E. Hanson (1939), Forrest Stapel (1940), Burton Holmes (1940), James Brady (1941), Nathan Goldstone (1941), George Houser (1941), Edwin Olson (1942), Joseph Brochin (1942), Azor Kleven (1942), Harris Kremen (1942), William Gillis (1943), Conrad Solomon (1943), Henry Sperling (1943), Henry Rutman (1943), Joseph Novich (1944), Gerald Boller (1945), Richard Almquist (1945), Lawrence Fick (1945), Harmon Baukol (1946), Kenneth Kroll (1946), Merlin Lee (1946), Jeanne Erickson (1946), Louis Dorfman (1947), Marie Perreault (1947), Ruth Englund (1948), Robert Rose (1948).
WORK ON PHARMACY PRACTICE ACT CHANGES CONTINUES. An Ad Hoc Committee of pharmacists, concerned with the future of pharmacy practice, led by representatives of MPhA and MSHP, continue to work on expanding the scope of practice for Minnesota pharmacists. The Pharmacy Practice Act Task Force has been meeting with individuals and organizations that have "concerns" about various aspects of the language of the proposed legislation. The proposed revisions of Minnesota law, regarding the practice of pharmacy, include three major changes. These changes include important patient counseling regarding drug therapy, pharmacist administration of medications in emergency situations and as starter doses, and collaborative drug therapy management via protocol with a physician. The Pharmacy Practice Act Task Force remains optimistic that passage of an expanded scope of practice for a pharmacist can still be obtained during the 1999 Legislative Session.
Obviously, a concentrated legislative effort of this type requires substantial financial resources. Pharmacists wishing to contribute financial support to the Pharmacy Practice Act initiative can send their donations to:
Pharmacy Practice Act Initiative
1935 West County Road B2, Suite 450
Roseville, MN 55113-2722
TECHNICIAN REGISTRATION NOW REQUIRED. Effective January 30, 1999, all pharmacy technicians, employed in Minnesota pharmacies, must now be registered with the Board. The pharmacist-in-charge of each pharmacy in Minnesota has now received information regarding the technician registration requirement and has also received some technician registration forms.
Pharmacists, who find themselves working with technicians who have not yet submitted
a registration form to the Board, should encourage the technician to do so immediately.
All technicians, whether full-time, part-time, or casual, must register.
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