Effective November 1, 2008, Drug Use Review (DUR) alerts for any newly approved drugs or updates to pre-existing drugs (i.e., newly discovered indication, adverse effect, drug-drug interaction, drug-allergy interaction, etc.) will not be generated until new system enhancements are implemented. Medi-Cal is currently in the process of updating its DUR alert system and the implementation is expected to occur after February 2009. Providers will be notified in the Medi-Cal Update bulletin prior to implementation.

DUR alerts that currently exist in the system through October 31, 2008 will continue to be generated. Early and late refill alerts will not be impacted by this system enhancement. Only the following DUR alerts will be affected:

• Additive Toxicity
• Drug – Age
• Drug – Allergy
• Drug  – Disease
• Drug – Drug
• Drug – Pregnancy
• High Dose
• Low Dose
• Ingredient Duplication
• Therapeutic Duplication

Medi-Cal recommends that providers continue to ask patients about their drug history in order to make clinically sound decisions and not completely rely on the generation of DUR alerts to take action.