From APC's President

Let's play hardball

Two of my favorite quotes I’ve learned over the years are “get into politics or get out of pharmacy” and “if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.” Over my 30-year career as a pharmacist and 21-year career as a compounding pharmacist, I have found these quotes to be spot on.

There are forces who oppose us, be it governmental agencies, big pharma, charitable trusts...you name it, there are people who want to see compounding pharmacy regulated out of existence. These groups have large voices through lobbyists and bully pulpits. However, there are tens of millions of people who want succeed and do well. These are our patients who are helped every day by the compounded medications we produce. Their stories need to be heard and who better to tell them than you and them?

Now is your chance. Our annual Compounders on Capitol Hill (CCH) event is coming up September 14 and 15, 2022. This two-day event will provide information on issues, information on how to brief your member of congress and actual visits with your members of congress. This is compounding pharmacy’s ONLY live fly in event of the year.

I have loved attending CCH for the 19 years I have been an IACP and APC member. This has been my annual go-to event. It recharges my batteries. It recharges my passion for compounding. I feel it necessary because if we don’t tell our stories, only the opposing view will be heard. Plus, I get to network with hundreds of you from across the country, learn your best practices and learn valuable information from our exhibitors.

I have a challenge for you this year. If you have not attended CCH in the past, would you do so this year?

If you have attended in the past, you know CCH’s value so here’s a special challenge to you...would you bring a patient or invite a prescriber who depends on your services? Your story is powerful. How much more powerful would it be if your member of congress looked in the eye of one of your patients whose life you saved or changed with the therapies you made and realized what would be lost if that therapy were to cease to exist?

Join me in Washington this September. Bring your patients. Bring your providers. Let’s play hardball and fight the fight which always seems to loom in front of us.

• • •

David Miller is APC’s president and the managing co-owner of Keystone Compounding Pharmacy in Grand Rapids, Michigan. You can reach him at drdave@keystonepharm.com.

This week

Yesterday, in response to the US Supreme Court's recent decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released guidance for pharmacies that sets forth their obligations under federal civil rights laws, conflicting with some state laws, and raises concerns for our nation's pharmacies and pharmacists.

The guidance also removes pharmacists’ ability to use their professional judgment to make “determinations regarding the suitability of a prescribed medication for a patient; or advising patients about medications and how to take them.”

Yesterday, APhA issued a press release in rebuttal, which included the below comment from Ilisa BG Bernstein, PharmD, JD, FAPhA, interim executive vice president and CEO:

“While we understand the intent, without consultation with our nation’s pharmacists, OCR hastily issued this guidance which attacks and undermines the fundamental responsibilities and professional judgment of the pharmacist.” Bernstein continued, “It only adds more confusion to an already complicated legal and regulatory landscape post-Dobbs that pharmacists must navigate every day to help our patients.” 

The APhA release then goes on to state that he implications of the guidance have the potential to cause widespread unintended consequences beyond reproductive health care services. 

Click here to read OCR's guidance document.

Pushing back against overreach like this is just another reason that attending CCH— and meeting directly with your member of Congress—matters.

Get ready to dust off your mitts because it's time for APC’s annual DC fly-in, Compounders on Capitol Hill.

This is your once-a-year opportunity to lobby lawmakers on their homefield—and to make a big difference for our profession!

Register today and take advantage of our early-bird pricing $495 through July 31 (goes up to $549 starting August 1).

Click here for complete details and to register at the early bird rate.

Save 75% on your credit card fees? Maybe. Tune in this Thursday to learn more.

APC is considering creating a group purchasing arrangement for our Pharmacy/Facility Members (PFMs) to help lower credit card processing fees for the participants. 

We think there’s potential to save you as much as 75% on credit card fees but first we need to gauge interest in this opportunity and your willingness to commit to it.

Interested PFMs are invited to attend a free, 30-minute virtual briefing on July 21 to learn more about the program. (Not a PFM yet? You can learn more and join here.)

Event details:

• Thursday, July 21 at 2:00pm ET
• Free to attend, but you need to register here: a4pc.org/creditcardfees

PFM benefits YOUR business

Becoming an APC Pharmacy/Facility Member opens up so many more opportunities for your business by granting you access to some pretty extraordinary business tools from APC, including value-added pricing from these (among several other) service providers:

• HealNow, an online payments platform
• Audible Sunshine, a custom voiceover service
• An annual hard copy of NABP’s State Survey of Pharmacy Law, a state-by-state compendium of pharmacy law and regulation ($195 value).

When you become a PFM, you join a growing list of compounding pharmacies that are already reaping the benefits. Learn more here about all the benefits of Pharmacy/Facility Membership for you and your team, then upgrade your membership today!

Take your patients’ word for it. Patient-reported outcomes are how you prove your compounded preparations work.

Learn more about APC member pricing for OutcomeMD here.

APC Member David Rochefort throws his hat into the NH House election

APC Member David Rochefort recently announced his candidacy for New Hampshire State Representative for District 1, a newly created 3-seat district.

David is a second-generation pharmacist and independent pharmacy owner and endeavors to bring a first-hand pharmacist perspective to his state's legislature. 

He has three top priorities when he is elected, one of which focuses on making prescription drug pricing transparent. 

With the elections being held on November 8, he has only four months to raise campaign funds. Even though this is a local race, David is asking fellow APC members for help with two things:

• Please consider contributing to his campaign at: www.rochefort4nhhouse.com
• Like his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/rochefort4nhhouse

Get FDA compounding insight direct from the source via these two programs

Help keep your business on FDA's good side by attending one (or both) of these agency-hosted virtual programs:

• September 6–8: FDA's virtual conference, Compounding Quality Center of Excellence Annual Conference. This year's theme is “The Shared Pursuit of Compounding Excellence." The conference will highlight how stakeholders can protect patients from unsafe, ineffective, and poor-quality compounded drugs while preserving access to compounded drugs for patients who have a medical need for them.

• Self-guided insanitary conditions training. The FDA Compounding Quality Center of Excellence offers a self-guided online course: Insanitary conditions and sterility assurance. The program aims to provide information on how to improve sterility assurance and prevent insanitary conditions.

Save these dates

July 21: FREE APC Briefing: Credit Card Fee Savings

July 21: An APC Webinar, 20 Questions: Selecting the Right Compounding Software for Your Practice with Alexander Pytlarz, PharmD

August 18: An APC Webinar: Hazardous Drug Decontamination – Understanding its Purpose and Validating Best Practices with Abby Roth (registration link coming soon)

September 6–8: FDA's virtual Compounding Quality Center of Excellence Annual Conference

September 14–15: APC’s Compounders on Capitol Hill 2022, Hilton National Mall, Washington, DC

September 22: An APC Webinar: Keeping it Legit: Best Authentication Practices for Compounders, PART I - PROVIDERS AND PRESCRIPTIONS (registration link coming soon)

October 26–29: PCCA's International Seminar, Houston, TX (in-person + virtual)

Short takes

Thanks to PFMs, APC keeps on growing and growing. We're pleased as punch to announce we're at 3,014 members. Most of this growth is attributed to our new-ish Pharmacy/Facility Membership (PFM) option because as a PFM you pay one annual dues amount to receive all the benefits of APC membership, plus your company receives a slew of additional value-added services and all your employees become APC members. Learn more here.

A feather in HRT's cap? According to a recent article on Breastcancer.org, medical guidelines say the benefits of HRT—such as quality of life and protection of bone health—can outweigh the risks for certain women. However, it's still a complicated decision for patients and their doctors. Read the complete article here.

Quick links



APC Career Center

• Job seekers

• Employers

APC's Code of Ethics

Compounding Connections archive

Compounders on Capitol Hill 2022

Continuing education

• Live webinars

• On-demand webinars

Current issues:

• GFI #256 on animal compounding

• Urgent-use compounding

• Prohibition on peptide compounding

• La Vita Case amicus filing

• Insanitary Conditions amicus filing

Invest in APC efforts

• CompPAC

• Campaign to save cBHT

• OneFund

Membership

• Renew

• Pharmacy/Facility Membership (PFM)

• APC Logo agreement for PFMs

• APC Logo agreement for individual members

Affinity service providers

• Accounting & Tax Services: Rx Advisors

• Audible Sunshine

• Office Equipment: TUI Solutions

• Online Payments Platform: HealNow

• Patient-Reported Outcomes: OutcomeMD

APC is committed to addressing any concerns or complaints within one business day. Please send them — and, of course, any compliments — to info@a4pc.org.