Welcome to the new year! With a new year, comes new laws and regulations.

Welcome to the new year! With a new year, comes new laws and regulations.
Rural settings, staffing, lack of transportation or mobility and funding issues are all challenging today’s medical landscape of access to care. Telehealth will bridge that gap.
While it may be true that a great portion of USP is related to compounding, it actually pertains to any personnel that handle Hazardous Drugs or facilities that store HDs.
On October 24, 2018, President Trump signed HR 6, the “Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act”. The bill was a comprehensive attempt to respond to the pervasive opioid epidemic with which state and local governments have been coping for years.
This trend of pharmacies going from mere medication dispensers to full health centers is not just a U.S. phenomenon.
Medical marijuana is a polarizing topic, especially among pharmacists. Still, even the most conservative traditional healthcare professionals are unable to deny the attraction of medical marijuana’s more controlled cousin, Cannabidiol (CBD). From the strict regulation on active ingredients (only .03% THC is permissible under the 2014 Farm Bill section 7606), to the staggering profit margins (40-50%, on average), CBD seems to be the miracle product that could financially offset the diminishing returns on more traditional pharmaceuticals.
Everywhere you turn, there seems to be a new set of laws looking to regulate the practices and goals of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs). While for the past decade, much of this legislation has trickled in on a state-by-state basis, Congress took the hint and jumped on the bandwagon in October of 2018, passing the Patient Right to Know Drug Prices Act into law.
An independent pharmacy is only as good as its inventory, so it makes sense to manage it effectively. Knowing how to trim the fat off your inventory management practices can keep your pharmacy leaner, more effective, and more financially stable as well as support your customers’ needs first.
In late December, the President signed the 2018 Farm Bill into law. The Farm Bill is a re-authorization of US agriculture and nutrition policy that is considered by Congress every 4-5 years. The very last paragraph of most recent Farm Bill contained a bit of unexpected policy: legalization of hemp.
The future of the independent pharmacy is at a critical point in its development. Increasing competition with national brands, a drop in prescribing physicians, and the trend towards e-pharmacies and doorstep delivery of medications has given many independent pharmacists reason to ask: what will the future look like for the local pharmacy?