On January 21, 2016, Baxter announced a recall of some lots of 0.9% sodium chloride injection, metronidazole 500 mg/100 mL injection, and Clinimix E 5/15 injection because of the presence of cardboard fragment particulate matter and leaks from some units of sodium chloride injection, cloth fiber particulate matter in a unit of metronidazole injection, and dried skin particulate matter in a unit of Clinimix E injection. Per Baxter, the leak may result in contamination of the drug product, leading to potential bloodstream infections and other adverse events. Injection of particulate matter may result in blocked blood vessels, stroke, heart attack, and other serious adverse events. Catamaran, an OptumRx Company, notified members who may be affected by this recall. These members were provided information to help them identify if their medication is being recalled. In the future, these members may inquire about the sodium chloride injection, metronidazole injection, and/or Clinimix E injection prescription(s) you dispensed. If you have any questions, please call Baxter at 800-437-5176 (8:00 am – 5:00 pm CT, Monday through Friday) for more information about this recall.

Health New England (HNE) continues to serve more than 64,000 MassHealth (Medicaid) Members It has come to the attention of Health New England that there is a misunderstanding in the pharmacy community regarding Health New England’s coverage for MassHealth patients. HNE still offers its Be Healthy™ plan and continues to serve the MassHealth population in Western Massachusetts. Although they will no longer cover CarePlus members (rating categories 9 and 10) as of February 1, they continue to offer the Be Healthy™ plan to traditional MassHealth members (rating categories 1 and 2). After February 1, HNE will still serve over 64,000 MassHealth members in Hampden, Franklin, Hampshire and Berkshire counties. We encourage you to reassure any of your patients that express concerns that HNE continues to offer its Be Healthy™ plan for traditional MassHealth members. If you have any questions, please contact our Member Services team, Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at (800) 786-9999. We would be happy to help. Sincerely, Andrew Colby, RPh, MBA Director of Pharmacy Services