Editorial: IACP-Compounders on Capitol Hill Meeting

This week, I just returned from the IACP Annual Meeting and Compounders on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC where approximately 300 pharmacists (the largest crowd ever) met to discuss and promote the profession of pharmacy and pharmacy compounding. Having attended the last five or six of these meetings which have all been great, this was truly the best program IACP has put together. If you did not attend, you really missed out on some excellent presentations, food, fun and fellowship.

The presentations were all on contemporary and vitally important topics. The first session emphasized the new public relations program of IACP, which is long overdue. It is time we took the offensive to educate the public and media and not always be on the defensive. We must correct all the blatant errors and misinformation that is disseminated to the public about pharmacy compounding. The next presentation discussed the involvement of USP and especially USP Chapters <795> and <797> in pharmacy compounding. This editor then had the opportunity of introducing the brand new "USP-Pharmacists' Pharmacopeia" to the audience, which was just published on Friday, June 3 and gave a summary of its importance and the support that USP is providing to compounding pharmacists. Following lunch, Ken Baker, Executive Director of PCAB presented the Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation Board and its importance to the audience and responded to questions. This was followed by a session on marketing your pharmacy and the key elements to a successful marketing plan. The IACP Foundation provided an update on the latest research initiatives and the afternoon concluded with a presentation on reimbursement issues and pharmacy compounding.

The evening hours were filled with the first really big gala event, the "Rx Mixer Visits the Beach" benefiting the IACP Foundation and hosted by, among others, the International Journal of Pharmaceutical Compounding. This was the largest event ever and was exciting and a lot of fun for 3-4 hours with dinner, entertainment and numerous auctions occurring and resulting in about $100,000 being raised in the auctions for the IACP Foundation. And all that was just the first day!

The second day started with an explanation of the current litigation between the compounding pharmacies and the FDA and this was followed by the annual update on current legal issues in pharmacy compounding by attorney Jeff Gibbs. Next, the Missouri testing program was discussed including the latest results of the random testing program. Following lunch, the IACP Potency Task Force presented their work and recommendations to help ensure quality compounding. Three analytical testing laboratories participated in a panel to discuss testing methods, identify timelines for testing and discussing the key elements of testing compounded medications; these laboratories are very much involved in testing for compounding pharmacists. Following a break, the session on preparing legislative strategies for congressional appointments was held to prepare participants for the next day.

The third day (Tuesday, June 7) was the day for the visits. Following the breakfast where participants are seated at tables according to state, the plan for the visits for the day with state senators and representatives was discussed. Over 200 visits had been scheduled by IACP staff for the day. This is always the highlight of the meeting and is really a lot of fun. Sitting down and visiting with YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS or their staff is a great opportunity we have and with an organized message, the sessions generally go very smooth and are very informative for all who participate. Following the visits on the hill for the day, there is a debriefing time and then a closing dinner.

This year, the event had to be moved to a larger venue, the Hyatt Regency hotel. This was actually better because it is a little closer to the Capitol and the House and Senate buildings. Also, there were far more exhibitors this year than ever before. In summary, if you have never been, please, please plan to attend next year. Your voice should be heard and it can be heard.

Loyd V. Allen, Jr., Ph.D., R.Ph
Editor-in-Chief

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