Tuesday, September 24, 2013

is this really true and fact based or just an attempt to prevent federal legislation


September 24, 2013 07:29 PM Eastern Daylight Time

New Poll Finds Senate Bill 959 Would Require 4 in 10 Compounding Pharmacies Surveyed to Abandon the Pharmacy Profession

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A recent poll of independent compounding pharmacies by PCCA shows that 4 in 10 of the pharmacies surveyed would be required to abandon the pharmacy profession under the terms of Senate Bill 959, The Pharmaceutical Quality, Security, and Accountability Act.While the bill claims to improve the safety of compounded medications, the survey finds it would force many small community-based pharmacies to make choices that would decrease the safety of compounded medications if they want to continue filling prescriptions for their patients. It would also reduce patient access to critical compounded preparations, often not found elsewhere, while forcing small pharmacies to accept burdensome new rules and costs, forcing painful cuts in local jobs. The full survey results can be found at ProtectMyCompounds.com.The survey was conducted by PCCA, a company that provides pharmaceutical-grade ingredients, equipment, education and training to more than 3,800 independent compounding pharmacies in the U.S.S. 959 requires pharmacies that engage in three common practices that are regulated under state law to register as “compounding manufacturers.” Under the provisions of the bill, a pharmacy is required to register as a “compounding manufacturer” if it prepares sterile preparations for human use, prepares them in advance of receiving a legal prescription order and dispenses them outside of the state in which it is located. As such, they would no longer be permitted to fill individual prescriptions for customers in their community or fill orders for office use by local physicians. As a profession, similar to physicians, dentists and attorneys, pharmacists are regulated and licensed by the state but would now face a new layer of federal regulation and be required to pay burdensome registration fees and inspection fees that could significantly impact their ability to provide services to their local community.- See more at: http://www.businesswire.com/news/rxtimes/20130924006991/en/Poll-Finds-Senate-Bill-959-Require-4#sthash.c556wjZq.dpuf

3 comments:

David Kirk, APR, Fellow PRSA said...

Yes, this true and fact-based. I am with the firm that conducted the poll and I can tell you that this is a legitimate piece of research and the results are what they are. S.959 has serious unintended consequences that have been pointed out to the Senate HELP committee time and time again from multiple sources. This research simply confirms the impact. I do not monitor comments on this blog so please feel free to send additional questions you may have to SBeek@pccarx.com.

Kenneth Woliner, MD said...

Actually, it is a piece of propaganda put out by IACP and PCCA. Every compounding pharmacy I have talked to opposes the senate version of the bill due to added regulation and licensure costs, but they ALL said they were stating in the compounding business. The list includes: Skip's Pharmacy (Boca Raton, FL), Compounding Docs (Boca Raton, FL), King's Pharmacy (Coral Springs, FL), Taylor's Pharmacy (Winter Park, FL), StarRx Pharmact (Leesburg, FL), AnazaoHealth (Tampa, FL) ... None of them said they were leaving the compounding pharmacy business.

In a real grass roots movement, whether it be the Declaration of Independence or other political activism, people (and businesses) sign their names to their statement of principles. They do not hide behind a nameless, faceless poll that reads like "4 it of 5 dentists prefer this toothpaste."

I DARE David Kirk to publish the names of the pharmacies that say they will stop compounding mess should the Senate bill become law. I sincerely doubt
he'll publish those names.

Kenneth Woliner, MD
www.holisticfamilymed.com

bloglady said...

Mr. Kirk,

I attempted several times to contact you at the email address you posted but always received message that it was not a valid email. Are you willing to post the names of the pharmacies that say they will go out of business when you conducted your poll or at least the names of the pharmacies polled? Any additonal comments or information you are willing to provide would be greatly appreciated by the readers of the blog.