271 - Pharmacy and therapeutics committee.
* § 271. Pharmacy and therapeutics committee. 1. There is hereby established in the department a pharmacy and therapeutics committee. The committee shall consist of seventeen members, who shall be appointed by the commissioner and who shall serve three year terms; except that for the initial appointments to the committee, five members shall serve one year terms, seven shall serve two year terms, and five shall serve three year terms. Committee members may be reappointed upon the completion of their terms. No member of the committee shall be an employee of the state or any subdivision of the state, other than for his or her membership on the committee, except for employees of health care facilities or universities operated by the state, a public benefit corporation, the State University of New York or municipalities. 2. The membership shall be composed as follows: (a) six persons licensed and actively engaged in the practice of medicine in the state; (b) one person licensed and actively engaged in the practice of nursing as a nurse practitioner, or in the practice of midwifery in the state; (c) six persons licensed and actively engaged in the practice of pharmacy in the state; (d) one person with expertise in drug utilization review who is either a health care professional licensed under title eight of the education law, is a pharmacologist or has a doctorate in pharmacology; and (e) three persons who shall be consumers or representatives of organizations with a regional or statewide constituency and who have been involved in activities related to health care consumer advocacy, including issues affecting Medicaid or EPIC recipients. 3. The committee shall, at the request of the commissioner, consider any matter relating to the preferred drug program established pursuant to section two hundred seventy-two of this article, and may advise the commissioner or the panel thereon. The committee may, from time to time, submit to the commissioner or the panel recommendations relating to such preferred drug program. The committee may also evaluate and provide recommendations to the commissioner or the panel on other issues relating to pharmacy services under Medicaid or EPIC, including, but not limited to: therapeutic comparisons; enhanced use of generic drug products; enhanced targeting of physician prescribing patterns; prior authorization of drugs subject to the clinical drug review program established pursuant to section two hundred seventy-four of this article; fraud, waste and abuse prevention; negotiations for rebates; pharmacy benefit management activity by an administrator; and negotiation of lower initial drug pricing. 4. The committee shall elect a chairperson from among its members, who shall serve a one year term as chairperson. The chairperson may serve consecutive terms. 5. The members of the committee shall receive no compensation for their services but shall be reimbursed for expenses actually and necessarily incurred in the performance of their duties. 6. The committee shall be a public body under article seven of the public officers law and subject to article six of the public officers law. In addition to the matters listed in section one hundred five of the public officers law, the committee may conduct an executive session for the purpose of receiving and evaluating drug pricing information related to supplemental rebates, or receiving and evaluating trade secrets, or other information which, if disclosed, would cause substantial injury to the competitive position of the manufacturer. 7. Committee members shall be deemed to be employees of the department for the purposes of section seventeen of the public officers law, andshall not participate in any matter for which a conflict of interest exists. 8. The department shall provide administrative support to the committee. * NB Repealed June 15, 2012