BCBS Association Class Action Lawsuit

Your practice may receive a notice in the mail that it is eligible for monetary compensation from a class action against the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association for violation of the federal antitrust laws. TMA has a summary of the case and information on the settlement here. 

CSMD Query Requirements

Current Tennessee law requires a prescriber to check the Controlled Substance Monitoring Database before issuing a prescription for an opioid, benzodiazepine, or schedule II amphetamine. If you are unsure which circumstances require the database check or if believe you might be exempt from this requirement, review our Law Guide topic, Controlled Substance Database (section VII D. – F.).

Cybersecurity Liability

A private entity is not liable in a class action lawsuit resulting from a cybersecurity event unless it was caused by willful and wanton misconduct or gross negligence on the part of the private entity. Review our Law Guide topic, E-health, to fully understand what is and is not included in this law.

Medical Licensing boards seeking to “make an example” out of prescribing to self/family

The TMA legal department received contacts from three members in April 2024 regarding investigations or formal charges brought against them by the medical licensing boards alleging the physicians self-prescribed or improperly prescribed for family members. One member was reportedly told that the licensing board’s medical consultant “wanted to make an example” out of the prescriber. Both the MD and DO licensing boards have formal policies addressing self and family member prescribing and have adopted the AMA (Op. 1.2.1) and AOMA Code of Ethics respectively. The technical “gotcha” violation is failure to keep medical records on family member patients.

While the boards’ policies as written seem to allow treatment of immediate family members only in “minor, self-limited, short-duration illnesses, or emergency situations,” in some instances the boards seem to hold physicians to strict liability even if the family member prescriptions were for non-controlled substances for minor short-term type conditions. Click here to access the policy for medical doctors and click here for the policy for osteopathic physicians. At this time, the TMA legal department cautions physicians NOT to prescribe medications to immediate family members for minor, self-limited, short-duration illnesses; only for emergencies, but absolutely keep a medical record on the encounter if it cannot be avoided.

Transfer Controlled Substance Prescription

There are occasions when a pharmacy is unable or unwilling to fill a controlled substance prescription for a patient. A federal law allows a one-time transfer of a controlled substance prescription to another pharmacy designated by the patient. TMA has created a resource explaining this one-time transfer and it may prevent a patient from calling for another prescription. You may print this resource, What Patients Can Do When a Pharmacy Won’t Fill Controlled Drug Prescription, and give it to a patient or let the patient take a picture of it. Go to the Opioid Resource Center at tnmed.org/legal to download this resource.