Compounding: A Well-established Practice in 1938
Author(s): Houck Larry K
Issue: Sep/Oct 2005 - Pain Management
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Page(s): 364-367
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Abstract: This article surveys the state of pharmacy compounding in 1938, the year Congress enacted the FDCA, demonstrating that compounding was an accepted, well-established pharmacy practice nationwide and that, given its importance in veterinary and human health care, Congress did not intend to prohibit pharmacy compounding any more than it proscribed other traditional pharmacy practices. States had begun regulating compounding by the early years of the 20th century, requiring that only registered or licensed pharmacists (or their registered assistants) engage in compounding and other pharmacy practices. Compounding was such an important part of pharmacy practice that state pharmacy acts contain numerous provisions using the term itself. A congressional ban of pharmacy compounding in 1938 with passage of the FDCA would have dealt a devastating blow to veterinary and human health care. Congress no more outlawed compounding in 1938 than it could have intended to prohibit dispensing and selling drugs, medicines, and po