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Remember when you recited the following oath?

"I vow to devote my professional life to the service of all humankind through the profession of pharmacy … I will embrace and advocate changes that improve patient care … I take these vows with the full realization of the responsibility with which I am entrusted by the public.”

In five minutes you can take an action that contributes to fulfilling this oath. You really can do this within 5 minutes. Hey, I did it; and nobody will ever accuse me of being computer savvy! In fact, I think I did it in about 3 minutes and I’m betting that you can probably beat my time!

Here’s all you have to do: 
 

• Click here. 
• Enter a small amount of demographic information about yourself. 
• Click the blue submit button at the bottom of the page. (You do not need to look-up the names of your Senators.) 
• Type your name at the bottom of a pre-formatted letter. 
• Hit Submit

 
Voila! Both of your Senators will receive a personalized letter directly from you. That’s two letters in less than 5 minutes. How easy is that? (You will have the option to add a personal comment within the body of your letter; but, that’s purely your option.) Because you entered your demographics, the system will display your senators’ names. You won’t even need to research their addresses!

I’m stressing how easy this process is because it will help you take action on an issue that is critical to patient safety.

It’s been almost a year since the first reports of patient deaths and illness tied to contaminated injectable products prepared by the New England Compounding Center. We know that the 63 deaths and the more than 700 cases of meningitis and other complications could have been prevented if there was a clear line of authority and accountability for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and state boards of pharmacy to oversee compounding outsourcers.

I wish that I could say that this was an isolated case. But the list of compounding outsourcers whose products allegedly endanger patients continues to grow. Just earlier this month, 15 patients suffered adverse effects from contaminated products supplied by a Texas provider of outsourced sterile products.

We know that we have a public health crisis in this country and we know that we are the professionals who are well-positioned to help our government address this crisis. We must be committed to doing so! (I know that I’m using a lot of exclamation points; but, this matter is really important. I apologize to my grammar teacher.)

ASHP has been actively engaged with Congress and other stakeholders to pass legislation that will give the FDA the authority to oversee the activities of compounding outsourcers and conduct rigorous inspections so that sterile products do not pose a threat to patients.
We all need to get involved so that legislators can learn first-hand how compounding affects our patients: in hospitals, outpatient clinics, surgery centers, smaller inpatient facilities, and medical office practices.

Our patients rely on us to ensure that the medicines they receive are safe. If Congress fails to act, it is just a matter of time before another tragic incident occurs. We need to make sure that this does not happen. If we don’t act on behalf of our patients, who will?

Please send your email to Congress today! (I included the link a second time in case you missed it the first time.) In less than 5 minutes from now you’ll be feeling good about it. You’ll be fulfilling your professional oath. You may even get a signed response from each of your senators.

As a pharmacist and a constituent, you have tremendous influence with legislators and can help them understand how this issue impacts the people who live and vote in their state or district. Congress will return from its summer recess on September 9 and is poised to address this issue. Now is the time for your elected representatives to hear from you. Please take this opportunity to let your members of Congress know about the impact of compounding on the patients you serve.

As background, we’ve provided resources at www.ashp.org/takeaction. Please feel free to access this information, as needed; but you are probably already familiar with this material and you already know how this crisis has impacted your practice and your patients!

While there is no prize for being the fastest, feel free to comment below and brag about how quickly you were able to submit your letters; or, to provide me with any other feedback about this important professional activity.