Office of the Secretary October 15, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is pleased to announce the upcoming 5th Annual Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise (PHEMCE) Stakeholders Workshop and BARDA Industry Day to be held January 10-12, 2011 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. This annual PHEMCE event will bring together private- and public-sector stakeholders including: Federal Officials, International Governments, Industry, Healthcare Providers, First Responders, Community-Based Organizations, and other interested audiences. Attendees will have opportunities to participate in Medical Countermeasure focused forums on: Pre-Event Positioning of Medical Countermeasures. Emergency Planning for Vulnerable Populations. Industry Feedback on Contracting Issue. Medical Countermeasures Development: Expanding the Pipeline and Exploring Multi-Use Potential. BARDA Industry Day Presentations. This free Workshop will also address current state of public health emergency medical countermeasure preparedness plans and opportunities to enhance national response capabilities. BARDA Industry Day provides a unique opportunity for biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry representatives to showcase their latest advances in vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics, and platform technologies targeting chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and naturally emerging threats, including pandemic influenza.

Section 703 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (NDAA-08) states with respect to any prescription filled on or after the date of enactment, the TRICARE Retail Pharmacy Program shall be treated as an element of the DoD for purposes of procurement of drugs by Federal agencies under section 8126 of title 38, United States Code (U.S.C.), to the extent necessary to ensure pharmaceuticals paid for by the DoD that are provided by network retail pharmacies under the program to eligible covered beneficiaries are subject to the pricing standards in such section 8126. DoD issued a final rule on March 17, 2009, implementing the law. On November 30, 2009, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia remanded the final rule to DoD (without vacating the rule) for DoD to consider in its discretion whether to readopt the current iteration of the rule or adopt another approach. This final rule is the product of that reconsideration. DoD is readopting the 2009 final rule, with some revision.