Membership Matters

New prescribing and reporting rules for controlled substances coming January 1, 2021

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/

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.”

SFMMS on Reopening Schools Safely in San Francisco Chronicle Opinion // 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

Kevin Nie researches the coronavirus at Burton High School in San Francisco in March, right before the shelter-in-place.

San Francisco City and County Health Officer and SFMMS Board Member Appointed Director of California Department of Public Health

On December 7th, Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Dr. Tomás Aragón Director of the California Department of Public Health. Dr. Aragón has been Health Officer for the City and County of San Francisco and Director of the Population Health Division for the San Francisco Department of Public Health since 2011 and is a longtime member of the San Francisco Marin Medical Society's Board of Directors. Dr. Aragón is a tremendous leader, whose vision and dedication has helped mitigate the spread of COVID-19 throughout the Bay Area. Our heartfelt congratulations go out to Dr. Aragón for this recognition of his remarkable leadership.

Cover art: By Cynthia Fletcher https://cynthiafletcherart.blogspot.com/2020/11/gratitude.html “Gratitude,” 12x16 oil on panel

Unable to directly thank all those willing to sacrifice their own safety and well being in this global crisis, people found other ways to express themselves. Home-made signs appeared in windows and on lawns, chalk spelled out thanks on sidewalks, and chain link fences became galleries of grateful messages. Throughout the country and around the world groups of people stood on random corners or in parks and simply held a message of appreciation and gratitude over their head.

Editor Gordon L. Fung, MD, PhD, FACC, FACP Managing Editor Steve Heilig, MPH Production Maureen Erwin

EDITORIAL BOARD

Editor Gordon L. Fung, MD, PhD, FACC, FACP Toni Brayer, MD Chunbo Cai, MD Linda Hawes Clever, MD Anne Cummings, MD Irina deFischer, MD Shieva Khayam-Bashi, MD John Maa, MD David Pating, MD

SFMMS OFFICERS

President Brian Grady, MD President-elect Monique Schaulis, MD, MPH Treasurer Michael Schrader, MD, PhD, FACP Immediate Past President

Kimberly Newell Green, MD Editor Gordon L. Fung, MD, PhD, FACC, FACP

SFMMS STAFF

Executive Director and CEO

Conrad Amenta Associate Executive Director, Public Health and Education Steve Heilig, MPH Director of Operations and Governance

Ian Knox Director of Engagement

Molly Baldridge, MPH

2020 SFMMS BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Edward Alfrey, MD Tomás J. Aragón, MD, MPH Ayanna Bennett, MD Julie Bokser, MD Anne Cummings, MD Nida F. Degesys, MD Beth Griffiths, MD Robert A. Harvey, MD Zarah Iqbal, MD Michael K. Kwok, MD Jason R. Nau, MD Stephanie Oltmann, MD William T. Prey, MD Sarita Satpathy, MD Dennis Song, MD, DDS Kristen Swann, MD Kenneth Tai, MD Winnie Tong, MD Matthew D. Willis, MD, MPH Joseph W. Woo, MD Andrea Yeung, MD