We did it. You did it.

Jeff Bray put us over the finish line with a $30,000 contribution to the campaign to save cBHT.

Thanks to a generous investment this week from APC member Jeff Bray of Medquest Pharmacy in North Salt Lake City, we have achieved our goal. We’ve raised $1.5 million — $1,500,000! — for our campaign to save and protect compounded hormones.

Let that sink in.

“It is extraordinary what pharmacy compounders have achieved,” said APC CEO Scott Brunner. “In just nine months our members have helped raise more than APC’s entire annual budget specifically to defend the profession from this threat.”

Our corporate partners have been a huge help during the fundraising, but make no mistake: The majority of those funds come from individual compounders — business owners who have banded together to preserve their profession.

“Together we have done the extraordinary — more than any one of us could do alone,” said APC Board Chair Shawn Hodges.

And now the campaign is in full swing: Ads have already been appearing in front of members of Congress and their staff, as well as other policymakers in Washington. We’re seeing results. Ads are being clicked and Compounding.com being visited by the people we want to hear from real patients about their experiences with cBHT. And we’ve only just started to get the message out.

The media campaign will continue into 2022, and possibly beyond that. (It’s up to FDA. We’d prefer this all to end quickly!) But until we hear that cBHT is safe, yes, we’ll have to continue to raise money. But for now we can give you a break from the cBHT fundraising emails … for at least a few months. And we’ll apply any funds we receive after today to our 2022 goal.

For the moment, enjoy the victory and keep an eye out as we show you how that money — the money you raised — is working to protect your patients and your practice.

Amazing what you can accomplish in less than a month.

In early July, APC was invited by NABP to offer input on the compounding provisions in the NABP Model Act – the model pharmacy law on which many states base their pharmacy license law. That invitation was the result of conversations APC CEO Scott Brunner had had with NABP CEO Al Carter about the prospect of working together on state-level registration of compounding pharmacies and a more effective and consistent state-level adverse events reporting framework. The kicker: They needed our input within a month.

An APC working group chaired by New Hampshire Board of Pharmacy member David Rochefort got to work, and over a series of meetings developed recommendations for amendments to NABP’s model act that were submitted to NABP last week.

Among several other recommended amendments, we include a provision that would require state boards of pharmacy to gather basic information about compounding pharmacies in their states. In the cover letter to NABP, we also request the appointment of a joint NABP-APC working group to address the issue of adverse event reporting.

You’ll find the members of our APC Model Act Working Group listed in the cover letter. We thank them for their quick and thorough work.

NABP’s Model Act Committee is not bound to accept our recommendations, but we’re hopeful they’ll see the value in what we’ve offered. We hope you do, too.

On the off chance you missed the big news, FDA — after requests from APC, its association partners, NABP, and individual state boards of pharmacy — has agreed to give states a one-year extension to sign the MOU on interstate shipments of compounded drugs.

The new enforcement date is October 27, 2022. APC will turn its attention now to helping state boards of pharmacy navigate any needed changes to their state laws so they can sign the MOU by the new 2022 deadline.

Help fight vaccine misinformation — help promote the documentary “Vaccination From The Misinformation Virus” from ACA’s Pharmacists Public Health Initiatives and airing on PBS stations across the country.

PPHI has all the information you need: clips from the film (and even a link to the entire thing), graphics, posters, press releases, and more to share its message.

Patients trust their pharmacists; you can make a difference and help finally put an end to the pandemic.

A report from Kaiser Health News shows how a NASEM report on medical waste — how taxpayers spend millions every year on medication that’s thrown away because the vials it comes in are too large — left out some important info. Specifically, how both NASEM itself and the members of the report committee received a lot of money from the pharmaceutical industry. The report’s “unbiased” conclusion: ‘Don’t worry about that waste.’ Hmm. Conflicts and bias, you say? Sounds like NASEM’s July 2020 cBHT report, doesn’t it?

The Federal Trade Commission is seeking comment on contracts that may be harmful to fair competition, and our friends at NCPA think PBM practices are a perfect example of that. They’ve set up a tool that makes it easy to comment to FTC and urge it to investigate those unfair PBM practices that harm small business.

Check out APC CEO Scott Brunner’s piece on our push for urgent-use legislation in the July/August issue of IJPC. (And if you don’t receive the journal, this is a great time to subscribe.)

APC has been able to get our message out through a growing number of health-focused podcasts, with both members and experts on 22 shows so far (7 live, 15 recorded) and more than a dozen more scheduled for recording in the next few weeks.

Check out Dr. Carolyn DeLucia on “the Mom Inspired Show” or Jim Hrncir on “Healing American Healthcare” — and you can find more podcast appearances on the Compounding.com blog.

We learned this morning that FDA has indicated its intention, via a posting in the Federal Register, to extend by one year – to October 27, 2022 – the date on which it will begin enforcement of the Memorandum of Understanding with states regarding interstate shipments of compounded medications.

Read FDA’s announcement here.

FDA’s move comes after requests for an extension from APC and its association partners, as well as from NABP and individual state boards of pharmacy.

We’re sincerely grateful to FDA for recognizing that numerous states will be unable to sign the MOU by the original October 2021 deadline and granting this extension.

APC will turn its attention now to helping state boards of pharmacy navigate any needed changes to their state laws so that can sign the MOU by the new 2022 deadline. We also await action by the Federal District Court on litigation challenging the process FDA followed (or failed to follow) in promulgating the MOU, as well as certain provisions of the MOU itself.

For now, we consider this extension a very positive reprieve, and APC is proud of our work in helping bring it about.

How would you like to help lead the Alliance as we continue our new era of growth and influence?

We’re seeking passionate, informed, influential compounding leaders to do just that as members of the APC Board of Directors.

The volunteer position entails a combination of strategic thinking, engagement with a variety of stakeholders, helping allocate our resources to get the most bang for our buck, and even some occasional crystal ball-reading.

Sure, the profession has plenty of challenges — that’s what makes this so rewarding. We want your knowledge and leadership ability to work on behalf of all compounding professionals.

There are six board seats available for the 2022 Board of Directors, in regions II, V, VI, plus one at-large seat. And — besides being a current APC member — there are some requirements. Learn the details, and if you’ve got what it takes, submit your nomination by 11:59pm EDT on Monday, August 23, 2021. Click here for all the information. Voting will begin in October.

Got questions about the nominating process? Drop us a note at info@a4pc.org.