| Welcome to ASCP's DEA Resource Center Welcome to the new and improved DEA Resource Center! Please contact us if there's something you'd like to see listed here. Please choose one of the following areas: DEA Issues Coalition QCCPP: The Quality Care Coalition for Patients in Pain - Join Today! Latest DEA News March 9, 2010 Senate Special Aging Committee to Hold Hearing on DEA and Patients in Pain ASCP has confirmed that the Senate Special Aging Committee's first public hearing of the year will focus attention on the impact of DEA rules on frail, elderly and dying patients in long-term care. The hearing will be held March 24 in Washington D.C. According to ASCP Policy and Advocacy Director Claudia Schlosberg, the hearing will highlight how DEA rules impede access to appropriate and timely narcotic pain medication and other controlled drugs, and focus on DEA's inconsistent enforcement. The hearing follows months of investigation into allegations that patients are being left to suffer in pain because DEA rules prevent timely dispensing of controlled medications. ASCP's Ross Brickley is expected to testify and to press for support of our legislation that would require DEA to recognize the long-term care nurse as the agent of the prescriber and to treat chart orders as valid prescriptions. The hearing is open to the public but space may be limited. The time and place of the hearing have not yet been finalized. Please watch the ASCP website for further details, or join the QCCPP mailing list for the most up-to-date news! March 9, 2010 ASCP leads QCCPP delegation to meet with Attorney General Eric Holder's Office On March 9, ASCP Policy and Advocacy Director Claudia Schlosberg led a delegation representing the Quality Care Coalition for Patients in Pain (QCCPP) to meet with Attorney General Holder's office. The purpose of the meeting was to educate the Attorney General's key advisors regarding the impact of the DEA policies on patient care. The delegation's message was simple: as we have promoted strict compliance with DEA rules on prescribing and dispensing controlled drugs in long-term care settings, more and more patients are experiencing delays in receipt of needed treatment. The inability to provide appropriate and timely access to controlled medications leaves patients in pain and places the provider in conflict with professional standards as well as the panoply of regulations governing quality of care. The meeting was cordial and the AG's staff asked several questions particularly about the role and presence of physicians in long-term care. In response, Rebecca Elon, MD, a geriatrician with Greater Geriatrics at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center, spoke eloquently of the needs of long-term care and hospice patients, as well as the challenges of complying with the additional requirements imposed by DEA. Ross Brickley, RPh, the President of CCRX of North Carolina, was able to explain the role of the pharmacist and the various controls in place for securing controlled drugs in long-term care settings, while Sandra Fitzler of AHCA explained the regulatory environment. The delegation asked DOJ to consider the seriousness of the issue and work together to identify an appropriate interim and long term fix. DOJ staff thanked us for the presentation and stated they would get back to us. Other members of the QCCPP team included Ron Buzzeo and Ralph Breitfeller. We will continue to provide update regarding any DOJ response or follow-up. December 11, 2009 DEA Responds to Sen. Kohl and Sen. Whitehouse's Letter--and QCCPP Writes Back! The DEA has responded to Senator Kohl and Senator Whitehouse's letter, which had raised concerns about the inability of nursing home and hospice patients to receive timely, adequate access to pain medication and other controlled drugs. DEA did not address the Senators' concerns; instead, DEA's response states that it has discovered that some pharmacies affiliated with long-term care facilities are violating the Controlled Substances Act and its implementing regulations. Among practices cited are reliance on chart orders and hospital discharge summaries. The Quality Care Coalition for Patients in Pain wasted no time in responding to the Drug Enforcement Administration's letter to Senators Kohl and Whitehouse. In its letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, dated December 10, 2009, QCCPP points out the differences between what DEA allows in hospitals and in nursing homes, and the resulting impact on patients. The letter explains how strict compliance with DEA rules and policies adds additional steps that can significantly delay treatment. The letter goes on to state: "While we respect and support DEA's mission to ensure that controlled drugs are not being diverted and are only used for legitimate medical purposes, the needless suffering that patients are now enduring demands that a balance be achieved that addresses these legitimate law enforcement concerns without causing harm to patients." December 10, 2009 Help Secure Support to Fix DEA -- Meet With Key Members of Congress in December and Early January! The Senate Special Aging Committee staff is interested in holding a hearing on the DEA's impact on long-term care and hospice patients. It is critically important that we continue to educate key Members of Congress and ask for their support on our proposed legislative changes. Our legislation would require DEA to treat long-term and hospice settings like hospitals and permit prescribers, nurses and pharmacists to prescribe and dispense controlled drugs efficiently and safely. Specifically, our legislation would require DEA to recognize chart orders as valid prescription orders for controlled drugs for long-term care residents, hospice and home health patients and to recognize that nurses in long-term care, hospice and home health act as agents of practitioners for purposes of documenting, transmitting and communicating prescription orders to the pharmacy. Please review this list of targeted Senate and House Members. If you are a constituent or have significant ties to any these members, please schedule meetings with them in December and early January in their district offices. Ask these key Members to support our efforts and ask if they are willing to sponsor/cosponsor our legislation. We are particularly looking to engage Senators on the Senate Special Aging (in advance of the anticipated hearing on this issue in late January) and Judiciary Committees and to identify House Members on the committees of jurisdiction to take the lead and sponsor our bill. The committees of jurisdiction in the House are the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Judiciary Committee. If you are interested in setting up meetings, please do the following:
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