Chapter Update: Progress in the Pacific

Seven years ago, the Pacific Lipid Association’s (PLA’s) inaugural meeting took place on Jan. 18, 2007, at the Sheraton Hotel and Marina in San Diego. Recently, March 13–16, 2014, we jointly hosted the 2014 Spring Clinical Update (CLU): Atheroprevention: Global Perspectives and Evolving Concepts. We partnered with the Southwest Lipid Association to hold the educational meeting at the Waldorf Astoria Grand Wailea Hotel on the island of Maui, Hawaii. In 2007, our first president was Thomas P. Bersot, MD, who subsequently became president of the National Lipid Association (NLA) from 2008 to 2009. The NLA’s Immediate Past President, Matthew K. Ito, PharmD, was PLA president from 2009 to 2010.

The PLA president’s torch was recently passed on from B Alan Bottenberg, DO, to current PLA President Paul D. Rosenblit, MD, PhD, for the year 2014-2015. Congratulations to all of our past and present leaders for guiding the PLA to where we are today.

The following highlights significant activities of the PLA and its membership during the past year (2013-2014). The 5th Annual Orange County Symposium, “A Brave New World: Navigating Through Problems in Contemporary Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Management,” under the direction of Brian M. Chesnie, MD; Robert S. Greenfield, MD; Paul D. Rosenblit, MD, PhD; and Nathan D. Wong, PhD; was held Nov. 2, 2013, in Anaheim, Calif., at the Hilton Anaheim. This comprehensive one-day symposium addressed lifestyle management, obesity, clinical lipidology, cardiometabolic risk, diabetes, and hypertension. The conference was jointly sponsored by the American Society for Preventive Cardiology and endorsed by the PLA, the California chapter of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) and the California chapter of the American College of Cardiology (ACC). Faculty for the conference included Yehuda Handelsman,

MD; J. Antonio G. López, MD; and Geeta Sikand, MA, RD.

Dr. Handelsman is chair and program director of the annual World Congress on Insulin Resistance, Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease. The 11th annual congress took place Nov. 7–9, 2013, at the Hilton Universal City in Los Angeles.

In October 2013, California passed Senate Bill 493 Pharmacy Practice, which establishes pharmacists as health care providers in California. This bill allows pharmacists to be granted an advanced practice license that allows them to perform patient assessments; order and interpret drug therapy-related tests; make referrals; and initiate, adjust, or discontinue drug therapy in collaboration with other health care providers. For pharmacists to practice under the advanced scope, they need to apply for and be granted an advanced practice pharmacist license from the California Board of Pharmacy. Pharmacists who qualify to apply for the license need to meet two of the following three criteria: 1) completion of a one-year residency in which >50 percent of time was involved with direct patient care, 2) actively manage patients for at least one year through a collaborative practice agreement, and 3) certification in a relevant area of practice. Eric K. Gupta, PharmD, has engaged the credentialing committee of the California Board of Pharmacy and asked them to consider the Accreditation Council for Clinical Lipidology’s Clinical Lipid Specialist examination as relevant certification.

With the work of John R. Nelson, MD, and the NLA on behalf of the California members of the NLA, the passage of SB 1215 by Sen. Ed Hernandez was defeated. This bill would have eliminated the in-office exception to the self-referral prohibition for advanced imaging that is performed within a physician’s office and

that is compensated on a fee-for-service basis. This would have set a dangerous precedent by prohibiting a physician who participates in a fee-for-service system from providing care directly to his or her patient in the most effective means possible. Eliminating in-office exception separates the patient from the physician who can best understand the patient’s individual needs.

Other PLA members who have played active leadership roles include:

* Wayne S. True, MD, who recently served as chair of the NLA Membership Committee.

* J. Antonio G. López, MD, who serves as chair of the Honors and Awards Committee, chair of the NLA Underrepresented Minorities Membership Task Force, and chair of the PLA Cholesterol/Lipid Screening Committee.

* Thomas P. Bersot, MD, PhD, who serves on the board of directors of the Foundation of the NLA.

* Eliot A. Brinton, MD, who serves as president of the American Board of Clinical Lipidology.

* Geeta Sikand, MA, RD, who serves as secretary for the Accreditation Council for Clinical Lipidology.

* Joshua W. Knowles, MD, PhD, who serves on the board of directors of the Familial Hypercholesterolemia Foundation.

PLA members who have served on the board of the NLA this year include: Edward A. Gill, MD; Eliot A. Brinton, MD; Matthew K. Ito, PharmD; Wayne S. True, MD; and Benjamin J. Ansell, MD.

On June 1, 2013, Daniel Steinberg, MD, PhD, emeritus professor of medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Medicine at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, received the Distinguished

Achievement Award, the highest honor conferred by the NLA, during the Annual Scientific Sessions in Las Vegas. This award is presented to an individual widely known for a major contribution to clinical lipidology — research, teaching, publishing or service — whether as a single accomplishment or through the work of a lengthy career.

As evidenced in the past year, the PLA continues to be an active and dynamic organization. We look forward to the important issues and exciting events of the upcoming year.

Disclosure statement: Dr. Fujii has no disclosures to report. Dr. López has received honoraria from Abor Pharmaceuticals LLC, Amarin, AstraZeneca, Bristol- Meyers Squibb Co., Diadexus, Forest Pharmaceuticals, and Pfizer. Dr. Lopez has received research grants from Amgen, Iverson Genetics Diagnostics, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, and United Biosource LLC.