It’s barely halfway through January and APC’s Compounding Defense Initiative is already hip-deep in legislative challenges. Last week we told you about two anti-compounding bills in Florida that have drugmakers’ fingerprints all over them and that we expected similar bills to appear elsewhere.
“Elsewhere” turned out to start with Indiana, where the problematic Senate Bill 282* was just introduced. Like the bills in Florida, it purports to be about protecting patients, but it’s really about restricting compounding. Heck, the description itself starts with “This bill restricts drug compounding with bulk drug substances unless specified requirements are met…”.
While much of the bill’s language concerns med spas, there’s plenty about compounding pharmacy. It adds a layer of state-level bureaucracy and paperwork that simply duplicates Federal law. Why? So pharmaceutical companies, which have struck out repeatedly in federal court, can try to bring their cases to state court where they hope to stand a better chance.
We’re expecting a similar bill to appear in Colorado in the near future. After all those embarrassing defeats, drugmakers are trying to open as many separate fronts in their war on compounding as they can.
In Florida, we’ve already engaged a lobbyist to help us fight the bills there. In Indiana we’re in the process of hiring one. We’ll also be engaging a public relations firm to help get our message to residents, legislators, and media in these states: Their healthcare is being threatened by big pharma.
This is all part of the Compounding Defense Initiative — and this is why we’re asking you to give to the Compounding Defense Fund. Legislative sessions across the country are starting, and we’re going to have to take on the pharma companies in, with apologies to Leonardo DiCaprio, one battle after another.
Please don’t dawdle. Pharmaceutical companies aren’t.
Late breaking update: The Indiana Senate’s Committee on Health and Provider Services has paused any further action on the bill “Because of the unusually high volume of public testimony,” according to Chair Ed Charbonneau, who said he didn’t want to rush deliberations. 👍
* The full bill is here (PDF) if you want to read it … or have your AI of choice summarize it for you.