Approved:  February 7, 2006

Minutes of the House Health and Services Committee

MINUTES OF THE HOUSE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE

The meeting was called to order by Chairman Jim Morrison at 1:30 p.m. on February 6, 2006, in Room 526-S of the Capitol.

All members were present except Representatives Garcia and Holland.

Committee staff present:

Melissa Calderwood, Kansas Legislative Research Department
Mary Galligan, Kansas Legislative Research Department
Renae Jefferies, Revisor of Statutes’ Office
Gary Deeter, Committee Secretary

Conferees appearing before the committee:  None 

Others attending:
See attached list (not available on electronic minutes)

The minutes for February 2, 2006, were approved.

Staff Mary Galligan demonstrated the editing capabilities of Adobe Acrobat 7.0, illustrating how comments and notes can be attached to an electronic PDF document

Ms. Galligan briefed the committee on tomorrow’s hearing on HB 2397, which deals with wholesale licensure and prescription medications.  The act would require the Kansas Board of Pharmacy to implement a pedigree system, which would follow a drug from the manufacturer through the wholesaler to the retail outlet.  An identification number would be attached to each drug to assist in tracking.  The board would develop testing and licensing procedures through rules and regulations.  Ms. Galligan commented that the federal government’s Prescription Drug Marketing Act has made little impact, California and Florida being the only states to implement provisions of the act.  She said the fiscal note (Attachment 1) indicates that the bill allows the Board of Pharmacy to pass costs through to distributors and to recoup expenditures through increased fees.  She said another bill, HB 2820, was recently introduced by the House Appropriations Committee.  The Chair asked staff to compare both bills at the next meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 2:55 p.m.  The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, February 7, 2006.