From APC's President

Let freedom—and dialogue— ring! 

This weekend, America celebrates her birthday. We celebrate the shaking off bonds of despotism that bound us to a foreign government that treated our ancestors very unfairly. The cost of independence, of freedom, was—and continues to be—very high. 

While we still all want absolute freedom and independence to do whatever we want to do—whenever we want to do it, of course—we also know that is not always realistic.

Sometimes we see the governmental agencies that oversee us as tyrannical despots who just want to crush our soul and rule over us like King George III ruled over the early American colonies. 

The fact is, most government agencies have public health and well-being as their primary pledge. Do they over-reach sometimes? Of course they do! Do we need to push back sometimes? Yes, we do! Can we declare our independence from them? Well, no. We must work together to ensure we can continue to provide customized medications to our patients in a way that is consistent with public safety.

In the past, the FDA and compounding stakeholders have been so distrustful of one another that there has been very little dialogue. We have sat in our separate corners and have just prepared for battle with each another. Recently, through some hard work by APC, that has begun to change for the better.

The FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine and the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research have engaged APC in positive ways. We have made real progress communicating to and being understood by the agency on pain points that compounders face. I sense that FDA is actually listening and working to resolve some of those pain points. APC’s next meeting is on July 6 with CDER, and we are grateful for the opportunity to continue the dialogue on your behalf.

Have a happy Fourth of July! Remember what the holiday truly signifies. Take time to read the Declaration of Independence like I do every year. You can find it here.

• • •

David Miller is APC’s president and the managing co-owner of Keystone Compounding Pharmacy in Grand Rapids, Michigan. You can reach him at [email protected].

This week

Attendee registration is now open for APC’s annual DC fly-in, Compounders on Capitol Hill. This is your once-a-year opportunity to lobby lawmakers on their turf—and to make a big difference for our profession!

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

Each paid registration also includes one ticket (+ $35 concession credit) to the Pharmacy Compounding Foundation Fundraiser: A Night at the Ballpark, generously sponsored by PCCA, Medisca, and Fagron.

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

This deal may save you big on

credit card processing

For the past several months, APC has been working with a national consulting firm, CMSPI, to assess the viability of creating a group purchasing arrangement for our Pharmacy/Facility Members on credit card processing fees.

To cut to the chase: We think there’s potential to save you as much as 75% on credit card fees, and we’re hosting a FREE VIRTUAL BRIEFING on July 21 to tell you about it.

But we need to make sure you’re interested and potentially willing to commit to such a deal, which could save your pharmacy or facility well more than what you’d pay APC in PFM dues.

Our 30-minute briefing call is set for Thursday, July 21 at 2:00pm ET. It’s free to attend, but you need to register here: a4pc.org/creditcardfees.

Patient-reported outcomes are key to your survival

The FDA is an agency persuaded by data. And in compounding, there are simply too many formulations for placebo, double-blind controlled trials to be a cost-effective means of demonstrating that the medications you prepare do what they are purported to do.

The only way you can demonstrate the effectiveness of the compounded formulations you dispense daily is via patient-reported outcome data that can be aggregated and shared with FDA. Without that kind of data, your compounding practice is a sitting duck for hyper-regulation from FDA that will leave your business in tatters and your patients without options.

Fortunately, APC has collaborated with OutcomeMD. It’s an outcome-tracking and marketing platform that provides compounding pharmacy owners granular, HIPAA-compliant data on how their formulations are working for patients and allows APC to aggregate that same data and share it with FDA.

We’ve negotiated special half-price subscription rates with OutcomeMD for APC members. 

Learn more about OutcomeMD's features and benefits here. Then reach out to Lorraine Kaiser at [email protected] to schedule your demo or click here to schedule it directly.

PFMs are winning at APC membership

For small and large 503A and 503B pharmacies and outsourcing facilities, APC offers a pharmacy/facility membership (PFM) as an alternative to purchasing several individual memberships.

Every registered employee of a pharmacy/facility member receives APC’s individual member benefits: continuing education opportunities, access to APC’s information services, professional development events, discounts on services, and more. In addition, PFMs get access to several exclusive benefits.

We're pleased to welcome our newest PFM members to the fold, bringing the total to 47 pharmacies and facilities that have joined APC as PFMs since March:

• Acacia Apothecary and Wellness; Tuscon, AZ
• Infuserve America; St. Petersburg, FL
• O'Brien Pharmacy; Mission, KS
• Portage Pharmacy; Portage, MI
• Revive Rx; Houston, TX
• Wedgewood Pharmacy; Swedesboro, NJ

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 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

Them's the right kind of fighting words. If there's anything our Founding Fathers modeled well, it was the art of engaging in proper discourse. We're pleased to have been part of a more recent example, courtesy of Luis Charles Chavarria. Read the July 2021 APC op ed he posted on his LinkedIn profile and the engaged commentary that ensued here.

Leeches for your leprosy. American modern medicine has come a long, long way since the Colonial era. To fully appreciate just how far, we suggest reading this insightful piece on what medical treatment looked like for early Americans. 

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

• 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 [email protected].