The General Membership Meeting was held Thursday, May 9th  in Los Angeles. Below is a synopsis of the evening:

• Industry Meeting with MOASC Board of Directors.
• Exhibit Hall & Networking Reception which included Lilly Oncology On Canvas (LOOC) art exhibit.  This meeting was sponsored in part by the following companies: ONYX Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Merck Oncology, Bristol-Myers Squibb.
• Robert Moss, M.D., MOASC President began with introductions and than presented Frederick Rundall, M.D., Legislative Liaison, Board of with the “2012 Outstanding Physician Achievement Award”.
• Georgia Nixon, Program Administrator, State/Regional Affiliate Program, ASCO discussed the goals of the State Affiliate Council and its objectives moving forward.
• Lawrence Piro, MD, MOASC Board of Directors, MCN Chairman of the Board presented Robert Moss, M.D., MOASC President with the “Boston Rocker” which is in honor of his many years of volunteerism towards the advancement of Community Oncology in California.
• Podium presentation by: Robert Vescio, M.D., Cedars-Sinai Medical Center discussing “Overview of KyprolisTM (carfilzomib) for Injection”, sponsored by ONYX Pharmaceuticals.

As an ASCO State Affiliate, MOASC is excited to announce that it is the first to be highlighted in The ASCO Post .  The ASCO Post has begun a new series of articles featuring the successes and advances of ASCO's State Affiliates. The articles will be housed in the "Expert's Corner" section of The ASCO Post.

ASCO invites you to please join them in celebrating their  first society to be featured in the series, the Medical Oncology Association of Southern California. For more than 2 decades, the guiding principle of the Medical Oncology Association of Southern California (MOASC) has been to ensure the continuation of the private practice of medical oncology and to provide the highest quality care to cancer patients. Read more about MOASC and their recent success stories online.

The Memorial Day Congressional in-district work period is an excellent opportunity to engage your lawmakers on the two most important issues in oncology now. A majority of cancer patients receive their treatment at community clinics. Today, that care is being threatened by a payment calculation in Medicare that has made it increasingly difficult for local clinics to absorb the additional cuts imposed by sequestration. Bipartisan legislation (S. 806) introduced by Senators Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) – and co-sponsored by Senators Robert Casey (D-PA) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) – would protect cancer patients' access to care in their communities and control costs for seniors and the Medicare program. Contact your Representative  asking them to cosponsor HR1416. S806, the Preserve Community Cancer Care Act, has been introduced that would exempt prompt pay discounts from the ASP calculation. Oncology supports this legislation and asks that you contact your Senators to support S806 as well. ACCC has published an Oncology Drug Reference Guide that shows how sequestration is impacting drug reimbursement under Medicare Part B at www.accc-cancer.org/publications/DrugReference.asp. For more information, click here.