DECEMBER 7, 2012 BY LEAVE A COMMENT
As an owner of a compounding pharmacy I have been closely monitoring the media coverage about the meningitis outbreak from medications prepared at the New England Compounding Center (NECC) in Massachusetts. While my heart goes out to the families affected, I implore you to not lump all compounders together. We are not like NECC.
Our compounding pharmacy is PCAB accredited, and we take great care to ensure the quality of every compound we prepare, as do many other pharmacies across the nation. Compounders fill an important void in our healthcare system; if we were not able to prepare customized medications for our patients it would jeopardize the health of millions of people.
Because of the severity of the issue, I understand the need for lawmakers to “fix” the problem, but it is imperative that we avoid knee jerk reactions. A familiar old saying comes to mind, ‘don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater’. In other words, it is imperative that we fully assess the situation to gain an understanding of what went wrong and why. Once all the issues are identified, we must then address them to prevent another tragedy like this from occurring.