APhA applauds the effort Congress has spent to ensure a tragedy like that involving New England Compounding Center does not happen again. As many of you know, the House and Senate have been working for months to develop legislation which would protect public health and patient safety while also protecting patients’ access to often life-saving compounded medications. Today, the House introduced compounding legislation and a vote is scheduled for tomorrow.
We are pleased with the progress made as APhA has been working with both chambers and other stakeholders for months to shape an effective bill that maintains patient access to pharmacist-compounded preparations while protecting the public’s health. While we still have concerns with the newly-introduced legislation, such as the omission of office use, we are still working with staff to produce a better bill. For example, today the staff included language that APhA suggested to create an advisory committee, which would include pharmacists. The Secretary would have to consult the committee when creating published lists, such as drugs presenting demonstrable difficulties for compounding.
APhA’s number one goal is the safety of our patients. And we will continue to work on behalf of patients and our profession to ensure pharmacists have the ability to create compounded medications.
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