Members Present: President Arvid Liebe, members Stephen Statz, Jeff Nielsen, Duncan Murdy, and Arlene Ham-Burr.
Others present: Executive Secretary Dennis M. Jones; Pharmacy Inspector Ron Huether; Laurie Gill, State Department of Health; Earl McKinstry; and Rene Hixon.
The meeting was called to order by President Liebe at 9:00 a.m.
Laurie Gill was introduced to members of the board. She is working as Deputy Secretary in the Department of Health and will be the liaison with the health boards.
The board met in executive session from 9:15 to 11:45 a.m. for the purpose of interviewing candidates for the executive secretary position. The three candidates interviewed were Ronald Huether, Robert Mabee and Lora Van Dyke. After deliberation, Huether was chosen to be the new executive director.
OLD BUSINESS
Minutes of previous meeting were discussed.
Pharmacist License Renewal
It was reported that a voucher for $113,400 was submitted to transfer pharmacist license renewal fees to the SD Pharmacists Association. This is based on monies received up through September 30, 2007. The pharmacists present who used the on-line renewal system were generally pleased with the program. There could be some minor improvements and Rene Hixon said she would work with Nedra Kiper, BIT programmer.
The financial report was discussed and approved. A new phone system is on order through state contract and should be installed within the next week.
Action items flagged for action at the next meeting were:
Arlene Ham-Burr made a motion to approve the minutes. The motion was seconded and carried.
NEW BUSINESS
Government Operations Audit Committee
The Government Operations Audit Committee is looking at the reserve funds of numerous boards and commissions. The Board of Pharmacy would like to investigate the possibility of sponsoring a scholarship for a student of the SDSU College of Pharmacy.
Inspection Report
Ron Huether gave a brief report on the inspections he has been doing. He expressed concern about the lack of judgment by pharmacists causing errors. He has been discussing this with the pharmacists during the inspection process.
Tamper-Resistant Prescription Pads
Congress delayed implementation of The U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act of 2007, which mandated state Medicaid agencies require the use of tamper-resistant prescription drug pads for outpatient drugs provided to Medicaid recipients by October 1, 2007. This requirement has been delayed for six months. By April 1, 2008, all three features must be in place: 1. a feature to prevent unauthorized copying of a completed or blank prescription form; 2. a feature designed to prevent the erasure or modification of information written on the prescription by the prescriber; 3. a feature designed to prevent the use of counterfeit prescription forms.
NAPLEX Reinstated
NABP announced that as of October 5, 2007, the NAPLEX examination has been reinstated at all Prometric Testing Centers. It had been suspended for a few months because of a compromise in the testing system.
Duncan Murdy made a motion, with second by Arlene Ham-Burr to approve a hospice pharmacy application for Avera McKennan dba Prince of Peace. Motion carried. Steve Statz made a motion the meeting adjourn. The regular business meeting of the Board of Pharmacy adjourned at 12:30 p.m. At 2:30 p.m. a public hearing was held regarding proposed rules for telepharmacy and 24-hour hospital pharmacy service.
