Larry Frieders, owner and pharmacist of The Compounder Pharmacy in Aurora, received a welcome by congressman Bill Foster (D-IL, representative of the 14th District) to discuss pending regulations that will have an impact on patients all across the United States. Scheduled to be implemented December 1, Frieders explained how the new rules about expiration dates would impair his ability to serve the patients he has been helping for decades.
Although shortening an expiration date might seem insignificant on the surface, the real impact will be that patients will be told that prescriptions that had been safe and effective for several months soon would find the expiration dates shortened to less than 30 days. The changes are based on theoretical evaluations of compounding in general, instead of the scientifically-established and tested-dates that have been in use many for many decades.
“The changes aren’t grounded in science and threaten the ability of the pharmacist to serve the patients that depend on the custom preparations provided by the compounding pharmacist,” said pharmacist Frieders.
Congressman Foster was attentive and engaged in the discussion for 45 minutes and offered several suggestions for approaching the situation.
Although compounding pharmacies are closing or consolidating services all over the country, Frieders said, “we’ll comply, we’ll survive, we’ll inspire, and we’ll thrive.”
—The Compounder Pharmacy