As you all know, immediately following the New England Compounding Center fungal meningitis outbreak last year, Congress began working to make sure nothing like that happens again. And so did APhA. Our profession works so hard to provide the best possible care and services to patients that we could not let this tragedy be a permanent mark on the good work pharmacists do every day.

From the outset, APhA has been actively involved in the legislative and regulatory process. APhA staff met from the beginning, and regularly, as recently as last week, with FDA senior staff and congressional staff in both chambers, providing subject matter expertise and comments on proposed legislation. We’ve heard from FDA regarding its insights gained as the agency continues to inspect compounding pharmacies.

There was some confusion around APhA’s position on compounding because the American Public Health Association’s (APHA’s) stance was erroneously attributed to us. We have not endorsed any specific piece of legislation because we continue to play a constructive role in protecting public health and patient safety while also protecting patients’ access to often life-saving compounded medications from their pharmacists. We will continue to work unwaveringly with members in the House and Senate and their staff to do what is right for patient care, and to protect patient access to legitimately compounded medications.