Greetings Innovation Compounding Nation
April has been a busy and productive month. I’m happy to say that some of our internal projects are starting to come to fruition, all in accordance to our 2018 Strategic Plan! One of our projects was to become more involved in legislative and regulatory affairs. As you’ll see below, we’re quickly on our way to meeting this objective!
In addition to testifying on Capitol Hill earlier this year, I recently attended a Political Action Campaign (PAC) Conference a few weeks ago. PCCA, one of the nation’s leading suppliers of our API pharmaceuticals, did a great job hosting the conference and arranging important meetings with our Congressmen. I was fortunate to meet with Buddy Carter (R-GA), who is the only pharmacist currently serving in Congress. Some of our fellow compounders were also able to visit with Congressmen Griffith (R-VA), who is a strong advocate for patient access to compounding. Rep. Griffith recognizes the vital role of “office-use” compounding, and wants to instruct FDA to allow compounding pharmacies to provide compounded products to doctors’ offices to administer to a patient. Later that day, we met with Congressmen Sanford Bishop (D-GA) and Congressman Loudermilk (R-GA) to discuss FDA’s inspection practices of compounding pharmacies. Finally, the compounding pharmacists visited two Georgia Senators’ offices, Senators Perdue and Isakson. Overall, Congress was very receptive to our message about the importance of practitioners’ and patients’ access to compounded products! We hope Congress will respond in kind and instruct FDA to limit their obtrusive and burdensome regulatory activities.
On Saturday April 21, I also presented to the American Academy of Naturopathic Physicians (AANP) on the significance of FDA overregulation and the need to work with Congress to support the vital role that office-use compounding plays. In attendance were 175 Naturopaths and Naturopath students, an amazing and highly-energized group, all of whom were eager and motivated to speak with Congress.
In the near future, the International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists (IACP) leadership will begin a dialogue with FDA leadership about patient-access issues. I will offer input from a pharmacist’s perspective about how FDA can balance patient access and safety with appropriate inspection practices and office-use compounding. We will keep you posted on the outcome of this dialogue, as this is a critical issue for prescribers, pharmacies, and—most importantly—our patients.
