July 17, 2013
Virginia’s Griffith works on House compounding bill, asks APhA for comments and meeting
At the request of Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA), who has taken the lead on drafting compounding legislation for the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Health, APhA commented June 7 on a regulatory concept that relied on a draft Compliance Policy Guide (CPG) that had been under development by FDA before the recent fungal meningitis outbreak.
“While APhA is supportive of making sure that nothing like this occurs again, we are also concerned that overreaching changes to the law could inadvertently block patient access to needed compounded medications,” the Association wrote in the comment letter. “Our utmost concerns are patient safety and access to best treatment options and access to quality medications, including appropriate compounded medications.”
Following the requested comment letter, APhA staff met with Griffith’s office on June 10 and will continue to work with him as the legislative process moves forward. “It was a very productive meeting,” said APhA Senior Lobbyist Michael Spira. “I would expect we might see legislation in the coming weeks.”
House Republicans are pushing to introduce compounding legislation in the near future because on the Democrat-controlled Senate side, the Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions (HELP) Committee chair and ranking member have asked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to put its compounding bill on the floor by the July 4 recess, according to Spira. The House “has to put its marker down or they will be forced to deal with the Senate bill,” he explained. Even though the Senate bill is bipartisan, the House has indicated it won’t take up the Senate bill.
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