Important!!! Must read from FDA--FDA Must Have New Authorities to Regulate Pharmacy Compounding

By: Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D.

The deadly outbreak of fungal meningitis associated with a compounded medication was a horrible tragedy, and I’ve asked myself many times if and how it could have been prevented. I speak for everyone at FDA when I say that our hearts go out to the many victims, including those still struggling with this devastating infection, and their loved ones.

While our investigation of this deadly outbreak has been a top priority, our responsibility at FDA is also to help make sure this doesn’t happen again. We are currently deploying resources to work with states to inspect certain state-licensed pharmacies that produce sterile drug products that we believe may present the highest risk. Over the past two months, we have inspected over 30 facilities and will continue to work to protect public health. 

But our authorities are limited and not the right fit for FDA to provide appropriate and efficient oversight of this growing industry. There should be legislation that establishes appropriate, minimum federal standards for firms that compound sterile drug products in advance of or without a prescription and ship them interstate.  FDA must have clear authority to proactively inspect pharmacies to determine the scope and nature of their operations.  Even during this time of heightened awareness, our inspectors are being delayed in their work or denied full access to records at some of the facilities we are inspecting.

And serious problems at compounding pharmacies continue to occur. Just this week there have been two recalls of sterile compounded and repackaged drug products. In one recall, the presence of floating particles, later identified to be a fungus, were reported in five bags of magnesium sulfate intravenous solution, resulting in a nationwide recall of all sterile drug products produced by the pharmacy. In the other recall, all sterile drug products from a second pharmacy were recalled as a result of reports that five patients were diagnosed with serious eye infections associated with the use of repackaged Avastin. 

There is a legitimate role for traditional pharmacy compounding. Every day, thousands of pharmacists practice traditional pharmacy compounding—mixing a drug in response to a valid prescription for an individual patient’s need. For example, these drug products could be liquids for patients who can’t swallow pills, or they could be made without certain allergens. These operations are licensed and primarily regulated by the states.

However, a new breed of specialty pharmacy compounding has evolved that has outgrown the law, and can pose a threat to the health of the public.  New legislation is needed that specifically addresses such compounding and the now-established safety concerns.

These pharmacies produce medications in advance of or without obtaining a prescription and distribute them across the country. They make drug products that are intended to be sterile and must be made to exacting standards to prevent dangerous contamination. The magnitude and complexity of these operations have outpaced the current patchwork of state laws that differ in prescription requirements and quality control rules.

I firmly believe that new legislation is necessary to help FDA effectively oversee firms engaged in widespread distribution of sterile compounded drug products in advance of or without receiving a prescription. To that end, FDA is working with Congress, states, industry, and all interested stakeholders to develop a basic framework to protect public health. The Senate committee with jurisdiction over this issue has been working hard on a bipartisan basis to craft such a framework, and we are hopeful that their efforts will yield strong legislation for patients across the nation.

In the new framework, FDA believes that certain high-risk sterile compounding facilities should be subject to federal oversight to ensure that the compounding of sterile drug products at those facilities can be done without putting patients at undue risk, including: 

• requiring compliance with federal quality standards that are appropriate for the compounding of riskier products and exposure of larger numbers of patients,
• requiring federal registration of the compounding facilities that will be subject to federal quality standards so FDA knows where they are and what drug products they are making, and
• requiring these higher-risk compounding pharmacies to report to FDA serious adverse reactions to their drugs of which they become aware so that we can act before potential problems get out of hand. 

And for all pharmacy compounding, FDA believes certain basic protections should be in place. These include: 

• clear authority to examine a pharmacy’s records to more quickly locate the cause of an outbreak or other violations of the law, and
• prohibiting compounding of the most complex and highest risk products—drugs and biologics that should only be made for patients by an FDA-registered drug manufacturer under an approved new drug application. The manufacturer will have demonstrated in this application that the product is safe and effective and can be safely made according to the highest quality standards.  

FDA supports and would like to explore with Congress several other ideas, such as requiring compounded drug products to have clear label statements identifying the nature and source of the product. The labeling statements would provide prescribers and consumers with valuable information about the products they are using or taking so that they can make informed judgments about their use. Of course, funding will be necessary to support the inspections and other oversight activities outlined in this framework.  We look forward to working with Congress to explore funding mechanisms, which could include registration or other fees, as Congress has authorized and FDA has successfully implemented in other settings. 

Protecting Americans from unsafe and contaminated drugs is not just an important responsibility for FDA—it is part of our core mission. We must be able to identify dangerous practices before they result in actual harm and, when necessary, intervene to minimize the damage and prevent such tragedies in the future.

Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D., is Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration