Attorney Derek Merman Represents Compounding Pharmacy Recall Victims Nationwide

HOUSTON, April 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorney Derek Merman from The Merman Law Firm, located in Houston, Texas is accepting additional clients who are victims of compounding pharmacy recalls -- recalls which seem to be announced on an increasingly routine basis. For example, in 2011, 2012, and most recently in 2013, compounding pharmacies have been responsible for contaminated drugs that have caused serious infections, vision loss, and an alarming outbreak of fungal meningitis, which resulted in serious illnesses and deaths. For good reason, these pharmacies' practices are drawing scrutiny from the Food and Drug Administration.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130417/PH95165-a)
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130417/PH95165-b)

A compounding pharmacy is a practice in which a licensed pharmacist combines, mixes, or alters ingredients in response to a prescription to create a medication tailored to the medical needs of an individual patient. The FDA recognizes that pharmacy compounding, performed as it was originally intended, provides an important service if a patient cannot be treated with an FDA-approved medication.  For example, a compounding pharmacy may alter an FDA-approved drug to ensure that an ingredient the patient is allergic to is eliminated, or to change the medication's form from a pill to a liquid. 

The compounding pharmacy industry is growing, and in some instances, their practices are growing beyond their original purpose.  Many of these compounding pharmacies have engaged in the equivalent of large-scale drug manufacturing processes, producing altered medications in mass quantities no longer geared toward an individual patient's needs. This expanded practice is where problems occur. Because compounded medications merely alter those that are already approved by the FDA, the compounded medications themselves are not FDA approved. Thus, compounding pharmacies seem to be taking advantage of a loophole in the regulatory system.  

The FDA only approves a medication when it has verified that the medication meets a level of quality, safety, and effectiveness as determined by the FDA-approved testing standards. Without the FDA's regulation and approval of compounding pharmacy medications, the risk that medications are contaminated, ineffective, and unsafe increases significantly. This is evidenced by the increasing number of compounding pharmacy medications being recalled.

Derek Merman at The Merman Law Firm is staying up-to-date on such recalls and unsafe practices undertaken by compounding pharmacies. The Merman Law Firm already represents victims of the fungal meningitis outbreak that was linked to New England Compounding Center's pre-filled steroid injections.  The firm is currently accepting clients who have suffered serious illnesses, infections, injuries, or fatality due to potentially contaminated, ineffective, or unsafe compounding pharmacy medications. Victims and their families are encouraged to contact the firm for a free lawsuit review.

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SOURCE The Merman Law Firm