Tramadol Schedule change – The notice below was sent out last week.

Due to these changes some of these items were not on contract from August 18 – August 23, 2014.

The contract pricing is now available.

Items were supposed to be on contract from Aug 18^th – August 23^rd. Orders affected will be credited and rebilled to reflect contract pricing. The processing should occur within the coming weeks.

For reference, the following are the products that were intended to be on OneStop:

These items will be added to the contract effective 8/27/14 – Credit/Rebills will be processed for these items as well:

**Reprint** (Notice sent out last week):

McKesson UPDATE: Regarding tramadol as a schedule IV controlled substance:

Effective August 18, 2014, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will place tramadol into schedule IV of the federal Controlled Substances Act. McKesson has set up new item numbers for all active tramadol SKUs in advance of the switch to controlled substance status. The new item numbers will not be available for ordering until Tuesday, August 19. The old item numbers were discontinued effective Thursday, August 14. Tramadol will not be available for order from Friday, August 15 through Monday, August 18.

Please see below for the new item numbers. The NDC numbers for these products are not changing (except for Lupin Pharmaceuticals’ products – see below), only the item numbers and labels. We expect to have sufficient supply of most of the newly-labeled products within a week of the change.

Please note; there will be no substitution from the old items to the new items as we do not substitute non-scheduled products to scheduled products.

Price Assurance Promotion – Price Alert

August 22, 2014

Please make note of the following items eligible for the Price Assurance Promotion

A customers’ purchase of these 6 item s will be covered by the Price Assurance Promotion for 30 days beginning August 22, 2014, the first day of the invoice price increase.

McKesson has been notified of 3 product families representing 6 items that increase in price on August 22, 2014. Customer purchases of this item are covered by our Price Assurance Promotion for 30 days following this posting. Customers will receive price assurance payments on purchases of eligible product during the 30-day price assurance period, up to a maximum quantity determined by their purchase history. Price assurance will be provided on the difference between the new invoice price and the invoice price before the invoice price increase, multiplied by the eligible quantity. For more information, please visit the OneStop Generics homepage on McKesson Connect. Note: The percentage increase in the invoice price may vary from the percentage increase in the WAC price. *Top 250 GCN Rank

Generic Bromfed DM addition

On Monday, August 18, Qualitest Products launched the generic equivalent of Bromfed DM® cough syrup (D-methorphan HB/P-EPD HCL/BPM). The Qualitest item will be added to the OneStop program in the primary position with anticipated inventory and visibility in McKesson Connect on Tuesday, August 19.

Brand Items:

Generic Items:

*The SWP and/or AWP in this communication was provided by the manufacturer in connection with the launch of this product. McKesson does not take any responsibility for the setting of SWP and/or AWP or the accuracy of this information. AWP will be available in McKesson Connect as and when this information is received from Wolters Kluwer's Medi-Span®. There will be no ASAP auto shipment of generic Bromfed DM cough syrup due to low brand usage. This is a courtesy announcement and will also appear in the newsletter.

DEA issues final rule on the rescheduling of Hydrocodone Combination Products (Chavis, 2015)

August 22, 2014

WASHINGTON — The Drug Enforcement Administration issued a final rule rescheduling hydrocodone combination products from schedule III to schedule II of the Controlled Substances Act. This final rule imposes the regulatory controls and sanctions applicable to schedule II substances on those who handle HCPs, according to the DEA. The rule is effective beginning Oct.6, 2014.

The CSA puts substances with medical uses into one of four schedules, the DEA said. Substances with the greatest potential for harm and abuse are categorized as schedule II and substances with less potential for harm and abuse are placed in schedules III through V. Schedule I is meant for controlled substances that don't currently have an accepted medical use. HCPs are drugs that contain hydrocodone (a schedule II drug) and specific amounts of other substances, such as acetaminophen or aspirin. “Almost seven million Americans abuse controlled-substance prescription medications, including opioid painkillers, resulting in more deaths from prescription drug overdoses than auto accidents,” said DEA administrator Michele Leonhart, “Today’s action recognizes that these products are some of the most addictive and potentially dangerous prescription medications available.” The entire final rule may be reviewed here.

FDA approves smartphone blood-sugar monitor (Salazar, 2015)

August 21, 2014

WASHINGTON — with a newly approved device, diabetics can turn their smartphone into a blood glucose monitor. The Food and Drug Administration cleared South Korean company Philosys’ Gmate SMART blood sugar monitoring device for U.S. marketing on Aug. 15. The device plugs into the headphone Jack on iPhones and iPads and — using the company’s Gmate app — turns the phone or tablet into a blood sugar monitor. "This is an exciting time for Philosys as we continue our efforts to be a technology leader for the diabetes mobile monitoring arena,” Philosys SVP sales Mike Tickle said. “The Gmate SMART will give our customers TeleHealth capabilities with the accuracy and quality they deserve at a cost effective price.”

The app can store blood glucose data over time and users can email it to physicians. Users can also categorize when in the day — before or after a meal, or after exercise — they monitor their blood sugar. The device is about the size of a quarter and doesn’t require any adapters or need to be paired through Bluetooth. The Gmate app is currently only available for iOS devices.

Updates made to the 2013 ACIP recommendations on seasonal influenza vaccines ( Alexander, 2014)

August 21, 2014

WASHINGTON — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has announced recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices for the 2014-15 influenza season. The report updates the 2013 recommendations by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices regarding use of seasonal influenza vaccines. Updated information for the 2014–15 influenza season includes 1) antigenic composition of U.S. seasonal influenza vaccines; 2) vaccine dose considerations for children aged 6 months through 8 years; and 3) a preference for the use, when immediately available, of live attenuated influenza vaccine for healthy children aged 2 through 8 years, to be implemented as feasible for the 2014–15 season but not later than the 2015–16 season. Information regarding issues related to influenza vaccination not addressed in this report is available in the 2013 ACIP seasonal influenza recommendations. Information in the report reflects discussions during public meetings of ACIP on Feb. 26 and June 25.

APCI APPROVED VENDORS

Reorder items available through McKesson:

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