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Temporary Change in Preferred Status for the Neuropathic Pain Drug Class Effective April 3, 2023

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Effective April 3, 2023, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) has temporarily removed the non-preferred status from the generic product lidocaine 5% patch on the preferred drug list (PDL). (The lidocaine 5% patch is in the neuropathic pain drug class.) This temporary removal is in response to the shortage of the preferred brand name product Lidoderm 5% patch, which was discontinued by the manufacturer.

Note: The preferred status of the brand name product Lidoderm (NDC 63481-0687-06) will not change so that any available existing stock can be used.

Effective April 3, 2023, the following generic drugs reflect these changes in the daily formulary file for Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs):

National Drug Code (NDC)

Generic Drug Name

00378905593

Lidocaine 5% patch

00591352530

Lidocaine 5% patch

00603188016

Lidocaine 5% patch

16714017730

Lidocaine 5% patch

42858011830

Lidocaine 5% patch

65162079108

Lidocaine 5% patch

These changes allow providers to prescribe the generic lidocaine patches without a PDL prior authorization and continue accessing necessary medication for clients. This is a temporary change until HHSC can further assess the availability of any alternative brand name products in the neuropathic pain PDL class. HHSC will provide more information about future PDL status changes when it becomes available.

Email vdp-formulary@hhsc.state.tx.us with comments or any questions.