IACP Update on S. 959

 IACP’s team of seven full-time Washington, D.C. lobbyists continue to find no evidence in their meetings with key Hill offices this morning that there will be a Senate vote this week on S. 959. All intelligence is indicating that a vote will come after the August recess. In the meantime, IACP’s Vice President of Government Affairs Sarah Dodge reports that IACP continues to work with several Senate offices who have reached out to IACP on amendment language to the bill, which also indicates that a vote is more likely after the recess. Please emailiacpinfo@iacprx.org if you have any questions on this information.

IACP Perspective: Why the Current Draft of S. 959 is Still Unworkable

• The compounding community has been collaborating with lawmakers and their staff on the development of legislation that will ensure we never have another NECC.
• The bill that has emerged from the Senate HELP Committee, Senate 959, will not protect patient safety and therefore IACP and the compounding community is not supporting it at this time.
• The bill exempts hospitals, health systems, and pharmacy benefit managers from the very protections it is putting in place, and we believe that these large exemptions will create safety gaps.  We believe that every patient should be assured of the same level of safety, whether they get their compounded medications from a pharmacy, a hospital, or a mail order pharmacy.  
• The bill also could interfere with patient access to compounded medications.  For instance, it prohibits the re-packaging of certain medications even when those re-packaged medications are far less costly.  It creates restrictions on anticipatory compounding and office use,  two methods for patients receiving medications when they need them.

Posted 7.30.13