Representative Justin Ruffridge hosted Governor Michael Dunleavy Thursday, July 6th, at Twin Cities Veterinary Clinic in a ceremony for the signing of two Ruffridge-sponsored bills.
HB 56 and HB 112 received a high level of legislative support across both houses when passing the legislature earlier this year. Work on legislation to exempt veterinarians from the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, the focus of HB 56, has been ongoing in the legislature for nearly a decade.
Rep. Ruffridge explained how the HB 56 would help veterinarians statewide,
“I am proud of the collaborative effort with veterinarians and many others to pass HB 56 which removes burdensome requirements for veterinarians, and addresses privacy concerns for pet owners.”
Regarding the bill’s benefits, Ruffridge went on to say;
“I’ve got to see this bill through many iterations as a pharmacist myself, [and] as a user of the drug monitoring database. Frankly, veterinarians are struggling. They have a lot of workflow that just doesn’t match up with this particular program, and there’s privacy concerns. I know that this community values their privacy, and the privacy of their medical information, and this bill goes a long way to ensure that that privacy stays intact.”
HB 112 is the culmination of a multi-year, collaborative effort with the Alaska Board of Pharmacy, and the Alaska Pharmacist Association aiming to modernize pharmacy statutes in the State of Alaska. Highlights of HB 112 include: authority for pharmacists to prescribe epinephrine auto-injectors, alignment of statute with the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA), and the addition of Board oversight of internet pharmacies.
Ruffridge discussed HB 112 benefits to Alaskans;
“Well, the biggest thing right off the bat is the addition of pharmacists being able to prescribe and dispense epinephrine as a life saving medication. So many people that have an anaphylactic reaction have no idea that they have an allergic response at all. It happens almost instantaneously, and in a spot where they’re uncertain that they can have access to epinephrine. This will [also] improve our access to dialysis medication, improve safety and licensing, as well as regulating Internet pharmacies, which have become a big deal over the past few years, something that the Board of Pharmacy doesn’t have any oversight for currently.”
At the signing, Governor Michael Dunleavy had this to say on the bill;
“We all rely on pharmacists for one thing or another at some point in our life. I was talking to the representative [Ruffridge], we have pharmacists in my family and he did mention he was on the board and we were honored to have him on the board do some good work. This is another example of fulfilling that work. And be prepared once again for more bills to come that will strengthen things, and make things better for people.”
HB 56 passed in the Alaska State house on March 29th by a vote of 35-1, Rep. Andy Josephson-(D) of Anchorage the lone vote opposing the bill, and then passed the Senate on May 12th, by a vote of 19-0.
HB 112 passed in the Alaska State house on May 16th by a vote of 36-4, and then passed the Senate the following day by a vote of 19-1.
With the governor’s signing, both of these bills now become law in Alaska.