The deeply problematic bill we’ve been following in California — AB1990 — has been stripped of many problematic provisions, but it’s still, well, problematic. If it had passed, the original version would have created serious problems for access to compounded GLP-1 medications.
The good news: Because of APC’s advocacy (and the important stakeholders we rallied), the bill has been significantly narrowed from its original form. It now focuses on pharmacies’ advertising and promotional practices, rather than imposing broader restrictions on compounding itself.
Even in its amended form, though, there are still some non-starters for compounding pharmacies.
Those advertising provisions, for example, would place new requirements on how compounded GLP-1 medications can be promoted. Sure, we all agree that advertising should be truthful and responsible, but APC points out that much of what this bill addresses is already covered by existing federal and state law.
One of the biggest issues we have is that the bill would require pharmacies advertising compounded medications to include risk information drawn from the labeling of FDA-approved products that contain the same active ingredient. Wait, what? Does no one realize that compounded drugs are not FDA-approved? Forcing pharmacies to copy and paste warnings and risk language directly from a brand manufacturer's labeling can be misleading — it was written for a completely different product. In addition, federal law explicitly exempts compounded drugs from such disclosures because, well, on what would such disclosures be based?
Even without that huge and obvious problem, the issue remains that, if the goal is truly consumer protection, enforcement should be aimed where the real risks are. Hint: It’s not the labeling. The real risks, as we’ve said from the beginning, are the bad actors like counterfeit sellers, unlicensed clinics, and businesses marketing research-grade products directly to consumers.
The California Senate will be on recess through the month of July, and when lawmakers return, AB1990 is expected to be heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee in early August. That gives us a little time, but not much.
So if you’re in California, now is the time to contact your state senator and urge them to take a close look at AB1990 and what it could mean for patient access. That link will make it easy — just fill out the form and we take care of the rest.