Preserving Patient Access to Compounded Medications Act of 2019

Preserving Patient Access to Compounded Medications Act of 2019

This bill addresses regulations governing compounding pharmacies.

The bill expands the circumstances under which a drug may be compounded (i.e., manufactured at small scale) to allow pharmacists and physicians to compound drugs for administration to patients in an office or clinical setting, in accordance with state law. (Compounded drugs are not required to meet certain federal requirements regarding manufacturing, labeling, or approval.)

Dietary supplements may be used in the compounding of a drug.

The bill exempts from interstate distribution limits the dispensing of a compounded drug from the facility where it is compounded to a patient or health facility.

The bill limits the scope of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspections of compounding pharmacies to certain equipment, materials, containers, and labeling. This aligns the scope of inspections of compounding pharmacies with the scope of inspections of other pharmacies. (Currently, the scope of inspections of compounding pharmacies is the same as the scope of inspections of drug manufacturers.)

The bill also eliminates the requirement for compounding pharmacies to register with the FDA as drug manufacturers.