20.02.2013 Views

Bioidentical Hormones - U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging

Bioidentical Hormones - U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging

Bioidentical Hormones - U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

238<br />

APhA Statement to the <str<strong>on</strong>g>Senate</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Special</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Committee</str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>on</strong> <strong>Aging</strong><br />

April 19, 2007<br />

APhA supports the <str<strong>on</strong>g>Committee</str<strong>on</strong>g>'s efforts to discuss this important issue and appreciates the<br />

opportunity to share the perspective of pharmacists <strong>on</strong> this issue. While pharmacist compounding<br />

improves patients' lives every day, we must c<strong>on</strong>tinually improve our practices to provide the best<br />

patient care. Improving our efforts to provide quality compounded products will reqiire<br />

collaborative efforts of c<strong>on</strong>sumers, the professi<strong>on</strong>, State Boards of Pharmacy, and the FDA. Each<br />

stakeholder has an expertise that is essential in assuring the c<strong>on</strong>tinued availability of this practice<br />

with the quality patients deserve.<br />

C<strong>on</strong>sumers must play a role in all of these efforts, as we are pursuing this work for them. The<br />

professi<strong>on</strong> must take the lead in guiding the regulatory agencies in how to draw the line between<br />

compounding and manufacturing, and in developing guidelines and voluntary accreditati<strong>on</strong> or<br />

certificati<strong>on</strong> processes to dem<strong>on</strong>strate compliance with those guidelines. The State Boards of<br />

Pharmacy, resp<strong>on</strong>sible for regulating the professi<strong>on</strong>, should maintain their primary regulatory role<br />

of pharmacy practice, including compounding. The FDA has a role in regulating manufacturers,<br />

as well as defining some broad guidance, such as the identificati<strong>on</strong> of substances that should not<br />

be used in manufacturing or compounding because the substances have been withdrawn from the<br />

market for safety and efficacy c<strong>on</strong>cerns.<br />

All of these efforts require collaborati<strong>on</strong>, coordinati<strong>on</strong>, and <strong>on</strong>going communicati<strong>on</strong>. To that<br />

end, pharmacists are ready to partner with stakeholders to develop effective strategies to<br />

improving the quality of compounding practices. Thank you for the opportunity to present the<br />

views of the nati<strong>on</strong>'s pharmacists. APhA looks forward to working with the <str<strong>on</strong>g>Committee</str<strong>on</strong>g> to ensure<br />

that patients are receiving quality compounded products.

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!