New Mexico Register / Volume XXXI, Issue
21 / November 10, 2020
AMENDED NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
The New Mexico Department of Health will
hold a public hearing on the proposed Wholesale
Prescription Drug Importation Program developed pursuant to the Wholesale
Prescription Drug Importation Act 26-4-1 to
26-4-10 NMSA 1978. The public hearing
will be held on December 2, 2020 at 9:30 a.m. via Cisco WebEx online and telephone
conference, and written comments will be received until December 1, 2020 at
5pm. Verbal comments will be accepted and
recorded during the hearing.
The hearing is being held via Cisco WebEx
online and by telephone conference due to the concerns surrounding coronavirus
and in accordance with Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s Executive Order
2020-004, Declaration of a Public Health Emergency, and any subsequent
executive orders and various Public Health Emergency Orders limiting mass
gatherings due to COVID-19.
Pursuant to the Wholesale Prescription Drug
Importation Act, 26-4-1 to 26-4-10 NMSA 1978, the hearing will be conducted to
receive public comments regarding the proposed Wholesale Prescription Drug Importation
Program prior to submission of the program for federal approval. A Prescription
Drug Importation Advisory Committee was created consisting of the Secretary of
Health, the Executive Director of the Board of Pharmacy, the Secretaries of
Human Services and General Services and the Superintendent of Insurance, to
advise the Department of Health on developing and implementing a program for
the importation of eligible prescription drugs from Canada. Through the advisory committee, the department
developed a drug importation program that complies with the requirements of 21
U.S.C Section 384 that will be formally submitted to the Secretary of the
United States Department of Health and Human Services for certification of the
proposed program. The proposal will include the following:
·
How the
program will comply with the requirements of 21 U.S.C. Section 384.
·
Description
of the cost savings of these prescription to New
Mexico consumers.
·
How the
program will ensure that selected eligible imported prescription drugs meet standards
for safety and effectiveness set forth by the US Food and Drug Administration.
·
How the
program will ensure compliance with the tracking and tracing verification and
identification requirements of 21 U.S.C. Sections 360eee and 360eee-1.
·
Prohibition
of the distribution, dispensing, or sale of the imported prescription drugs
outside of NM.
·
Recommendation
of an administrative charge to ensure funding of the program that does not
impact consumer savings.
·
Identification
of an audit function.
Any interested member of the public may
attend the hearing and offer public comments on the proposed rule during the
hearing. To access the hearing by
telephone: please call 1-408-418-9388.
Your telephone comments will be recorded. To access the hearing via internet: please go
to Webex.com; click the “Join” button; click the “Join a meeting” button; enter
the following meeting number and password where indicated on screen-Meeting
number (access code): 146 053 2913 #, Meeting password: QcZMPFPs225; click the
“OK” button. You may also provide
comment via Chat during the live streaming.
The foregoing are summaries
of the proposed program. The proposed program
includes various additional substantive revisions not identified here. Free copies of the full text of the proposed
rule may be obtained online from the
Department’s website at https://www.nmhealth.org/about/phd/.
Written public comments may also be
submitted to the mailing address shown below.
Please submit any written comments regarding the proposed rule to the
attention of:
Aryan Showers
Director, Office of Policy and
Accountability
Runnels Building
1190 South S. Francis Drive
Santa Fe, NM 87505
505-470-4141
All written comments will be
published on the agency’s website at https://www.nmhealth.org/about/phd/ within 3 days of receipt
and will be available at the New Mexico Department of Health Office of General
Counsel for public inspection.
If you are an individual with a disability
who is in need of special assistance or accommodations to attend or participate
in the hearing, please contact Sheila Apodaca by telephone at (505)
827-2997. The Department requests at
least ten (10) days advance notice to provide requested special accommodations.