Who Should Be Included on State Boards of Pharmacy Compounding Pharmacy Working Groups or Advisory Committees?

The following notice appears on the North Carolina State Board of Pharmacy:

COMPOUNDING PHARMACY WORKING GROUP. The Board decided at its October meeting to put together a small working group to review all aspects of North Carolina regulation of compounding pharmacy and to make a report and recommendation. North Carolina pharmacists with an interest in participating should communicate that interest to Jay Campbell, the Board’s Executive Director, by Friday, November 2. The Board will select the members shortly afterward.

How many other states had compounding pharmacy working groups or advisory committees before the meningitis outbreak.  How many have recently put together such groups or committees or plan to do so?  It would be a great idea if all state boards of pharmacy and perhaps even state veterinary and medical boards also established compounding pharmacy working groups or committees.   This would be another sign that states are being proactive in this area and want to retain jurisdiction over compounding regulations.

Who should be appointed to these working groups and committees?  Obviously, an expert compounding pharmacist needs to be appointed, but that does not mean that all members should be pharmacist.  To the contrary, the boards should not be stacked with all pharmacists. Nor should pharmacists who represent special interest or big manufacturers be allowed to sit on these working groups or advisory committees.  An example of where this can be a problem is the New England Compounding Case and the Massachusetts Board of Pharmacy.  Instead, the boards should include a diverse group of individuals.  How about including a physician and  a veterinarian who are experts in compounding and  know how the medications are used, what they are used for, etc. One of the most important people to include may be a marketing consultant or pharmaceutical representatives (one both on the human side and one on the vet side)-who knows the trenches and what really goes on in the compounding world but the one out there every day dealing with the pharmacist, the doctor, the veterinarian and possibly the public.  One must be careful because not all marketing consultants or pharmaceutical reps are knowledge of the rules and regulations relating to compounding.  Should the committee or group also include a member from the general public? an attorney?  No matter who the Board of Pharmacy decides to include on the compounding pharmacy working group or committee it should include a diverse, well-rounded group of individual who can bring a vast array of knowledge and expertise to the meetings.