Unless a pharmacist has completed and timely provided to the WV Board of Pharmacy on the form provided by the Board a waiver request attesting that he or she has not administered or dispensed a controlled substance during the entire previous two-year reporting period, every pharmacist shall, as a prerequisite to license renewal, complete a minimum of three (3) hours of drug diversion training and best practice prescribing of controlled substances training during the previous reporting period.
The West Virginia Pharmacists Association will provide the State required drug diversion course to pharmacists at its 112th Annual Convention, October 20, 2019, at the Charleston Marriott Hotel. The course begins with registration at 7:30 am and concludes at 11:00 am. Coffee and refreshments will be provided.
The course means training of at least three (3) hours which includes, at a minimum, the following:
- Drug diversion, including West Virginia statistics on prescription drug abuse and resulting deaths;
- Epidemiology of chronic pain and misuse of opioids;
- Indication for opioids in chronic pain treatment including, at a minimum, general characteristics, toxicities, and drug interactions;
- Patient evaluation and risk assessment and tools to assess risk and monitor benefits;
- Initiation and ongoing-management of chronic pain in patients treated opioid based therapies, including, at a minimum; treatment objectives; medication therapy management and collaborative practice; prescription of controlled substanlce agreements; urine screens and pill counts; patient education on safe use, storage and disposal of opioids; discontinuation of opioids; and doccumentation and medical records;
- Case study of a patient with chronic pain;
- Identification of diversion and drug seeking tactics and behaviors;
- Best practice methods for working with patients, prescribers, law enforcement, and others as appropriate, concerning patients suspected of drug seeking behavior and diversion;
- Compliance with controlled substances laws and rules; and
- How to register with and use the WV Controlled Substance Monitoring Program established in WV Code 60A-9-1, et seq.
Pharmacists desiring to attend the course are requested to send their full name as registered with the Board of Pharmacy, address, WV pharmacist license number, telephone number and name of employed pharmacy to the West Virginia Pharmacists Association, 2016 1/2 Kanawha Blvd., East, Charleston, WV 25311. Pharmacists’ fee for the course is $90 payable to WVPA. The fee for a pharmacy technician is $55.
