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USP General Chapter Revisions for 795 and 797 Published Today (November 1, 2022)

The much anticipated USP General Chapter revisions for non-sterile and sterile compounding were published today. New and Updated Notices | USP-NF (uspnf.com) Please let us know if you need our firm of pharmacists, attorneys, and pharmacist-attorney to help your organization understand not just what the changes are, but more specifically how these will affect your …

PBM Audits Move Fast. Start Preparing Your Defense Today!

Don’t Wait! Build a relationship with an Experienced Pharmacy Law Team One of the more stressful parts of going through Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) audit is that, by the time the average pharmacy hires experienced pharmacy law attorneys to defend their business, there may only be two weeks or less to formulate a successful response.  …

FTC Reverses Previous Deadlock in Pivotal Vote to Probe Pharmacy Benefit Managers’ Practices

On June 7, 2022, in a unanimous 5-0 vote, The US Federal Trade Commission reversed a previous 2-2 deadlock vote that will result in the commissions probe of pharmacy benefit managers including the top six PBMs; CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, Inc. OptumRx, Inc., Humana Inc., Prime Therapeutics LLC and MedImpact Healthcare Systems, Inc. After the …

Shared Service Agreements in the Pharmacy Industry

The last decade has seen a rise of so-called “shared service agreements” (“SSA’s”) within the pharmacy industry. These agreements, utilized by pharmacies under common ownership and pursuant to a contract between pharmacies that are not under common ownership, enable pharmacies to work with each other to perform certain prescription dispensing tasks.  For example, one pharmacy …

New York Enacts PBM Licensing and Oversight Laws

On January 2, 2022, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced the signing of legislation S.3762/A.1396 that seeks to regulate pharmacy benefit managers (“PBM”). PBMs doing business in New York must immediately register with the Superintendent of Insurance, be licensed by the Department of Financial Services by 2022 and renew their licenses every three years. The …

Boesen & Snow Law Successfully Overturns $1,000,000 in PBM Audit Findings for Specialty Pharmacy Client

Boesen and Snow successfully assisted an independent specialty pharmacy appeal the findings of a major PBMs desktop audit. The preliminary audit consisted of over $1,000,000 in discrepancies, most of which the PBM considered unappealable. Boesen and Snow utilized a multifaceted argument to appeal the “unappealable” claims including a unique presentation of prescription documentation, prescriber statements, …

Looking to Buy a Pharmacy? Be Sure to Do Your Due Diligence

Purchasing your own pharmacy can be wonderful opportunity to flex your entrepreneurial muscles, while providing the best for your patients.  Indeed, the notion of being your own boss, being able to practice pharmacy in the way that you think is best, and increasing your earning potential are all good, sound reasons to consider buying your …

Board of Pharmacy Investigations: How Your PBM Audit May Put You in Hot Water with The State Boards of Pharmacy

PBM Audits commonly review prescription hard copies, signature/delivery logs, drug invoice purchases, proof of copayment collection, proof of prescriber/patient relationship, patient consent to fill, and non-resident state licensure. PBM Audits are just one of the many hurdles your pharmacy will inevitably face while you strive to serve patients. Poor audit findings lead to extensive financial …

Signature Log Audits: Are you Maintaining the Proper Documentation for In-Person and Mail-Delivered Prescriptions?

Many PBMs relaxed the requirements on signature logs for both in person and delivered medications due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Some PBMs even allowed mailed prescriptions when otherwise prohibited. While the ease in restrictions made providing patients with their medications easier, the PBMs retained the right to audit signature logs regardless of the lifted restrictions. …

PBM Aberrant Product Lists: The Aberrant NDC and Percentage Billed Compared to Total Volume is Only Part of the Issue

Billing of Aberrant NDCs Beginning in January of 2020, at least one of the major PBMs began monitoring its network pharmacies for the billing of specific NDC numbers the PBM considered “Aberrant”. The list of NDCs was sent to network pharmacies in November of 2019 and has since been updated in November of 2020. The …