Archives
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Van Winkle announces 2015 run for AAFP President-elect
At the close of this year’s AAFP Congress of Delegates, TAFP’s Lloyd Van Winkle, MD, announced his intention to run for AAFP President-elect in 2015. Van Winkle has just completed his second year of a three-year term on the AAFP Board of Directors.
Van Winkle has practiced family medicine in rural Castroville, Texas, for almost 30 years. He is the medical director and CEO of United Physicians of San Antonio ACO. He is a clinical associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio and he is the health officer for Castroville and La Coste. He has served as medical director of the Medina Valley Emergency Medical Service for more than 25 years. He is an aviation medical examiner and a quality reviewer for Texas Medical Foundation Health Quality Institute, and he provides expert testimony for Texas Medical Liability Trust, defending family physicians in medical malpractice litigation.
A member of the AAFP since 1985, Van Winkle has served as a delegate and alternate delegate to the AAFP Congress of Delegates for the past 10 years. He also has served on the AAFP Commission on Membership and Member Services, and as chair of the AAFP Committee on Communications and the Subcommittee on Awards.
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Reminders for Primary Care Summit – Houston attendees
posted 10.14.14
Thank you for registering for the 2014 Primary Care Summit in Houston. TAFP is looking forward to seeing you at this year’s event.
Registration Schedule
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Registration opens as scheduled on Friday, Oct. 17, at 6:15 a.m., in the 3rd floor foyer. The conference begins Friday morning at 7 a.m. with our CME breakfast lecture. -
Health Cares About Domestic Violence Day
posted 10.9.14
During 2013, 119 women were killed in Texas by their male intimate partner, according to the Texas Council on Family Violence. This included 21 women who had previously taken steps to leave their violent relationships, and 55 children who were present for and watched their mothers die.
Not only is October Domestic Violence Awareness Month, but Oct. 8, 2014, was designated as Health Cares About Domestic Violence Day, educating health care professionals about the importance of screening for domestic abuse. I spent the day at a meeting of the Task Force on Domestic Violence listening to three survivors speak about their experiences with family violence. Established by House Bill 2620 in the 83rd Texas Legislature, the task force is charged with researching the impact of domestic violence on mothers’ mortality and health, and infants’ mortality, health, and development.
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Hydrocodone combinations become Schedule II drugs on Oct. 6
posted 9.12.14, updated 10.2.14
Pharmaceuticals containing hydrocodone will be reclassified from Schedule III to Schedule II as of Oct. 6, 2014. The Drug Enforcement Administration published the final rule making the change in the Federal Register in August. The change is intended to curb abuse of hydrocodone, but it will require some changes in the way physicians and pharmacists handle these prescriptions. After the reclassification:
- Prescriptions for hydrocodone combinations cannot be faxed or called in to a pharmacy; instead they must be written on the official Schedule II prescription form issued by the Department of Public Safety, or they may be submitted electronically directly to the pharmacy;
- Hydrocodone prescriptions cannot be refilled; they will require a new prescription for each order; and
- Physicians will not be able to delegate authority to prescribe hydrocodone combinations to nurse practitioners and physician assistants outside of hospital or hospice settings.