PHARMACIST COMPOUNDING AGAIN IN DANGER ON CAPITOL HILL

State pharmacy boardscould lose their authorityto regulate pharmacistcompoundingactivitiesunder acontroversialnew legislative plan being hammeredout on Capitol Hill. The proposal, still indraft form at press time, was being circulatedby a bipartisan group of senatorsheaded by Senate Committee onHealth, Education, Labor, and PensionsChairman Edward Kennedy (D, Mass).

Under the plan, responsibility for regulatingdrug compounding would shiftto the FDA—an agency that has shownlittle appreciation for the traditionalright of pharmacists to compound medicines.The National CommunityPharmacists Association and severalother national and state pharmacygroups are urging federal lawmakers toreject this legislative proposal and supportpharmacy's long-standing authorityto compound drugs.

Visit ePharmacyTimes at www.pharmacytimes.com/articleNewsletter.cfm?ID=4503 for arelated article about the pharmacyorganizations'concerns.