Dear friend,
Quick: Think about your members of Congress -- your representative, your senator. Can you see them in your mind’s eye? Good. Hold that image.
Now: Think about the biggest issues threatening your pharmacy compounding patients and practice.
Maybe it’s NASEM’s flawed cBHT report and the likelihood of FDA restrictions on cBHT that may result. (In a 2019 survey 82% of APC members said cBHT comprised at least 20% of their compounding business. I suspect few of us could easily survive a loss of one-fifth of our business.)
If you ship out-of-state, it may be FDA’s final MOU and the threat by several states not to sign it -- a result that could be catastrophic for many of us.
If you compound for animals, maybe it’s the draft animal compounding GFI FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine has proposed, which will hurt veterinary care and raise the costs of compounded pet meds across the board.
For some of you who process insurance, it might be the recent ESI/Tricare recoupment attempt -- or third-party reimbursement issues in general.
Okay, now think back to the face of your member of Congress. Imagine yourself mentioning any one of those issues above to him or her. What’s the look on their face? Recognition? Understanding? Or cluelessness?
For many members of Congress, it may be cluelessness -- and that’s not the fault of your member of Congress. It’s our fault.
The only way members of Congress can help with the issues confronting pharmacy compounding are if we -- you! -- tell them. On every one of the issues mentioned above, Congress intervening on our behalf with FDA or Tricare is the best way to stop the kind of over-reach that has made those issues threats to you in the first place. But we -- you! -- have to tell our story.
Starting September 10 and running through the rest of September and October, we have a chance to brief more than 50 members of Congress in a series of virtual meetings targeting key officials who sit on committees with oversight over FDA and Tricare. We need you to be a part of as many of those meetings at possible. Read below for details on how to participate, and let us know which meetings you’ll join.
We need members of Congress to recognize how these issues affect patients and compounders, and we can’t tell the story without you, as constituents.
Now, read on about the five big things you need to know this week!
Best,
Shawn