An Arkansas legislative committee has rejected a bill that would have allowed nonprofit, tax-exempt or governmentally-funded hospitals to hold retail pharmacy permits. Such permits are not allowed by current law.
As the Arkansas Advocate reports, Arkansas is the only state in the country that bans these retail permits. Oncologist Daniel Mackey, MD, told the Arkansas Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee that he often must rely on mail-order pharmacies for some patients’ chemotherapy drugs – which can delay treatment for weeks. “So, I wrote this prescription for an oral chemotherapy for one of my patients back in December. And I saw him in the office Monday. He had yet to start his chemotherapy yet because he was still trying to navigate the complex mail-order pharmacy system.”
Little Rock Public Radio provided that audio of Dr. Mackey’s testimony. Meanwhile, opponents of the bill [Senate Bill 58] and senators who voted against it said independent rural pharmacies might already be struggling financially and could be snuffed out by competition from in-house pharmacies at hospitals. A similar bill died in committee in 2023.
The issue is not over, however. Arkansas State Senator and pharmacist Justin Boyd, R-Fort Smith, filed his own legislation, Senate Bill 86 on Tuesday. That measure would allow for a single retail pharmacy permit per location, with certain requirements. Chief among those criteria include the ability to dispense emergency medications 24 hours a day. The very same committee that rejected SB-58 on Wednesday will hear SB86.
