MEMBERSHIP MATTERS New prescribing and reporting rules for controlled substances coming January 1, 2021
SFMMS on Reopening Schools Safely in San Francisco Chronicle Opinion
On January 1, 2021, all security prescription forms will be required to have a uniquely serialized number, a corresponding barcode and other security features. California-approved security printers have been issuing these prescription pads since the beginning of 2020. Starting January 1, 2021, except for limited emergency situations, pharmacists will be unable to fill a controlled substances prescription that is not on a compliant form. Physicians who do not already have these prescription pads should place an order as soon as possible from a Department of Justice-approved security prescription printer to ensure they have compliant prescription pads before the Jan. 1, 2021 effective date. California Medical Association (CMA) security prescription partner, RxSecurity, is already issuing the uniquely serialized prescription forms and has been since 2019. Implementation of this new requirement was postponed for two years, thanks to CMA-sponsored legislative fix in January 2019. The flawed implementation in 2019 caused mass confusion, left pharmacies unable to fill prescriptions and patients being refused necessary medications. January 1, 2021 also marks the implementation date of a new law that requires pharmacists and prescribers who dispense controlled substances to report the dispensing of controlled substances to the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES) within one working day after the medication is released to the patient or the patient’s representative. Previously, pharmacists and prescribers who dispensed had seven days after dispensing. This law requires pharmacists and other prescribers who dispense to report the dispensing of Schedule V drugs, in addition to Schedules II, III, and IV. For more information on CURES and prescription pad requirements, visit the Medical Board of California’s CURES web page: https://www.mbc.ca.gov/Licensees/Prescribing/CURES/
// LETTERS TO THE EDITOR District should focus on reopening schools San Francisco Chronicle Oct. 26, 2020 Regarding “No timeline for opening schools” (Front Page, Oct. 20): We read with a sense of both frustration and urgency about the continued closure and lack of progress in the reopening of San Francisco public schools, despite many medical and public health authorities advising that it is important that children return to schools in a safe manner for all concerned. The San Francisco Marin Medical Society developed science-based guidelines for such reopening and submitted them to San Francisco Unified School District leadership some time ago, reflecting expert evidence and opinion that in-person education is crucial to children’s education and development, and can be done safely. Our city and county has just been upgraded to an improved epidemiological status, and we can’t help but agree with Mayor London Breed that getting students back into classrooms seems more urgent at this time than renaming mostly empty schools. On behalf of our physicians, parents, and especially students, we urge that the goal of safely reopening our schools be expedited for all concerned. Dr. Brian Grady, president,
San Francisco Marin Medical Society
CMA president supports Newsom's regional stay-at-home orderss
SFMMS member and California Medical Association President Peter N. Bretan, Jr., M.D. issued a statement today in response to the governor's announcement on regional stay-at-home orders. "As COVID-19 rates continue to reach record levels, our health care workers are doing heroic work under increasingly stressful conditions and at increased risk to themselves and their families. We want to thank the governor for continuing to make hard policy choices based on science and thank all Californians for making necessary sacrifices during these difficult times to keep each other safe, and to protect those that are working overtime to protect the health and well-being of others. We are all tired after nine months of this pandemic, and there is reason to be optimistic about what the year ahead will bring. But we are not there yet. The worst of this pandemic may be yet to come, but with the continued compliance and compassion for our fellow Californians, we can flatten the curve and get through this together.”
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SAN FRANCISCO MARIN MEDICINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020
Kevin Nie researches the coronavirus at Burton High School in San Francisco in March, right before the shelter-in-place.
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