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EDITOR'S PAGE
cy in 1 of these 15 states, not only must you follow your own state's regulations, but you must also abide by the regulations of the state in which the
pharmacy is located.
• Patient-specific versus invoiced orders. The DEA hasn't changed its position on prohibiting "constructive transfer" for controlled substances, meaning that all medications dispensed pursuant to patient-specific prescriptions
may only be dispensed directly to the patient, and not to that patient's prescriber. "In other words, patient-specific compounded controlled substance
medications may not be delivered or shipped to the provider, nor to the institution in which that drug will eventually be administered to the patient,"
says Ms. Cherney. "The medication's chain of custody must be directly from
pharmacy to patient."
• Resident or non-resident? Compounding pharmacies are considered either
resident or non-resident. A resident pharmacy means that the pharmacy has
a license in the state in which it is physically located. A non-resident pharmacy means the pharmacy has received a license from the state into which
it ships medications. "If you're receiving medications from an out-of-state
compounding pharmacy that doesn't hold a non-resident pharmacy permit in
your state, you could be found liable under state pharmacy regulation for
purchasing drugs from an unlawful source," says Ms. Cherney.
Last thing you need is a greater compliance burden, but more rules and
regulations are good medicine for the compounding industry. OSM
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O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | M A R C H 2013