Recent Announcements

Wyoming State Board of Pharmacy 

December 6-7, 2023 Board Meeting Agenda

The Wyoming State Board of Pharmacy will meet on December 6-7, 2023, in Public Meeting Room 5 of the State Capitol located at  200 W 24th St, in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Participants may join the meeting virtually with the following Google Meeting ID:

meet.google.com/mak-rijw-ptd 

or by calling: 1 224-702-0187 PIN: 698 741 095#

Persons requiring special assistance to be able to attend and/or participate in the Board’s meeting are asked to contact the Board office at 307-634-9636 in advance of the meeting to ensure that arrangements and accommodations are made. While the Board attempts to follow the agenda as published, it reserves the right to vary from the times and order of matters as may be appropriate and necessary to facilitate the flow of business.

A Reminder that PREP Act Declaration for COVID-19 Countermeasures were extended through December 2024

PREP Act immunity from liability was extended by HHS through December 2024 to pharmacists, pharmacy interns, and pharmacy technicians to administer COVID-19 and seasonal influenza vaccines (to those individuals three and over, consistent with other requirements), and COVID-19 tests, regardless of any USG agreement or emergency declaration.

Wyoming Pharmacist and Pharmacy Technician Renewals

Renewals for Wyoming pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are around the corner! Renewal notices will be emailed to the email address on record with the Board office. If you need to update your contact or work information with the Board, please use the Board's  Change of Address/Employment form and email it to bop@wyo.gov.

For their 2024 license renewal:

• Pharmacists must complete 12 hours of ACPE-accredited continuing education, including 1.5 hours related to the responsible prescribing of controlled substances. Any CE activity that is coded to ACPE topic “8” will meet this requirement. 

• Pharmacy technicians must complete 6 hours of ACPE-accredited continuing education. 

• Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians who immunize must complete 1 hour of CE related to immunizations. 

• ALL CE must be ACPE-accredited and be reported to NABP's CPE Monitor.

Beginning in 2024, for their 2025 license renewal:

• Pharmacists must complete 15 hours of ACPE-accredited continuing education, including 1.5 hours related to responsible prescribing of controlled substances. Any CE activity that is coded to ACPE topic “8” will meet this requirement. 

• Pharmacy technicians must complete 10 hours of ACPE-accredited continuing education. 

• Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians who immunize must complete 1 hour of CE related to immunizations. 

• ALL CE must be ACPE-accredited and be reported to NABP's CPE Monitor.

Rule Revisions Signed by Governor Gordon

The revisions to the Wyoming Pharmacy Act Rules and Regulations Chapter 3: Pharmacy Internship Regulations, Chapter 6: Continuing Professional Education Regulations, Chapter 16: Immunization Regulations, and Chapter 18: Prescribing by Pharmacists were approved and signed by Governor Mark Gordon on August 31, 2023. 

The updated chapters are posted on the Wyoming State Board of Pharmacy’s website, and can also be found on the Wyoming Administrative Rules website at rules.wyo.gov.

APhA Career Pathway Evaluation Program for Pharmacy Professionals

Pharmacists provide valuable expertise for direct and indirect patient care; population-based health; drug discovery, development, distribution, and utilization; research; and many other important functions that help improve the quality of public health. However, many student pharmacists and newly licensed pharmacists may be exposed to very few of these diverse career opportunities.

Since the 1980s, the APhA Career Pathway Evaluation Program for Pharmacy Professionals has provided useful information about career paths for student pharmacists. Keeping the career profiles in the program current is dependent upon information provided by pharmacists like you. 

APhA invites pharmacy professionals to participate in a web-based survey that asks about the characteristics of their work and their work activities. This information will be used to update the profiles for career categories contained in the program.

Pharmacy professionals may access APhA's survey by clicking the link below. They anticipate the survey needing 5-10 minutes to complete.

https://aphanet.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8BOQincF1MoBVKm

Through participation in this survey, pharmacy professionals will be providing useful information to student pharmacists who are making career decisions.  In addition, a summary of the results will be published in a national pharmacy journal as a means to help disseminate the findings.

Participation is voluntary, and responses are confidential. Only aggregate responses will be reported.

Please feel free to send this invitation to other colleagues who might be interested in helping update the Career Pathways Profiles. APhA's sampling and analytical techniques allow for this. If you have any questions or comments about the study, please contact APhA at the program email at pathway@aphanet.org.

ALERT Phishing Scam

The Board office has received reports that pharmacists are receiving calls that appear to come from the Board office’s main phone number and that the caller identifies himself or herself as an agent with the Board. The caller is able to confirm some of the pharmacist’s information, such as license number, National Provider Identifier number, and place of employment.

In some cases, the caller accuses the pharmacist of having committed a violation, that his or her license may be suspended or revoked, and that the pharmacist will be arrested if he or she does not answer the caller’s questions. In some cases, the caller alleges that the pharmacist was involved in prescription drug trafficking. Some pharmacists have reported that the caller becomes aggressive and demanding, threatening to have the Federal Bureau of Investigation come and arrest the pharmacist if he or she does not comply. 

The Wyoming State Board of Pharmacy will not contact or interact with you in this manner.

The Federal Trade Commission has useful consumer information on how to recognize and avoid phishing scams available at https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-recognize-and-avoid-phishing-scams. If you receive such a phone call, please call and report it to the Federal Communications Commission at 888/225- 5322.

Rule Revisions Signed by Governor Gordon

The revisions to the Wyoming Pharmacy Act Rules and Regulations Chapter 2: General Practice of Pharmacy Regulations, Chapter 20: Collaborative Practice Regulations (REPEALED), Chapter 21: Fees and Chapter 8: Prescription Drug Monitoring Program and  Chapter 10: Issuing and Dispensing Prescriptions for Controlled Substances of the Wyoming Controlled Substances Act Rules and Regulations were approved and signed by Governor Mark Gordon on May 24, 2023. 

The updated chapters are posted on the Wyoming State Board of Pharmacy’s website, and can also be found on the Wyoming Administrative Rules website at rules.wyo.gov.

REMINDER ALERT

Healthcare Distribution Alliance Pharmaceutical Cargo Security Coalition Fraud Alert

The Board's September 2022 newsletter had an article on the Healthcare Distribution Alliance Pharmaceutical Cargo Security Coalition's fraud alert that outlines some new methodologies that are being used to divert both small and large drug shipments. These schemes may involve the impersonation of regulatory personnel, including individuals from state boards of pharmacy and departments of health. They may also involve the impersonation of pharmacy or distributor staff. 

Last week a pharmacy in Casper reported being contacted by a scammer posing as the Wyoming Board of Pharmacy, who tried to obtain their wholesale distributor account number. In 2022, a pharmacy in Rock Springs, WY, reported being contacted by a scammer posing as their distributor, who said that they had shipped product to the pharmacy in error and requested that the shipment be returned.

More information is available from the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy®. If you experience an attempt at this type of scam, please email cforsaith@hda.org so that it can be shared with law enforcement.

ALERT Fraudulent Prescription SCAM

The Board has received alerts from pharmacies that an individual or group of individuals are calling in prescriptions for Azithromycin, Ibuprofen, and Promethazine with Codeine.  Most of the calls have allegedly come from practitioners in Washington. In some instances, they are asking for particular manufacturers of Promethazine with Codeine, attempting to call multiple sets of prescriptions in at one time, and have requested the pharmacy to ship into another state.  The Board urges pharmacists to be cautious and to utilize their professional judgment when exercising their corresponding responsibility and to carefully evaluate such prescriptions for validity before dispensing.