Throughout the past year, lawmakers in several states considered bills that would restrict patients’ ability to access compounded drugs.
 
Under the banner of public safety, proponents of the bills said they were meant to address counterfeit drugs, bad actors, and bogus “pharmacy” websites. But in practice, they were designed to make it harder for state-licensed pharmacies to provide medications that many patients rely on when standard drugs don’t work or aren’t available.

In 2026, APC defeated 10 of these bills in states across the country and mitigated an additional one. But the threat is far from over. More bills threatening patient access to compounded medications are likely to be introduced in 2027. 

The healthcare system is built for standardized care, not for every real-world need. Compounding exists because patients don’t experience illness at scale.

Patients rely on compounded medications when:

• A drug is in shortage or unavailable

• A child needs a liquid or non-standard dose

• A patient can’t tolerate fillers or dyes in commercial products

• Standard therapies fail, including for menopause, thyroid conditions, dermatology, and other chronic needs

When compounding is restricted, patients are not redirected to safer alternatives. In many cases, there are no alternatives.

• Instead of targeting illegal online sellers or counterfeit products, this year’s bills attempted to place new requirements on licensed pharmacies that already operate under federal and state oversight.
  
  
• They imported manufacturing-style rules into patient-specific pharmacy practice and condition care on documentation and inspection standards that pharmacies often cannot control.
  
  
• The result would have meant fewer pharmacies able to provide care — and fewer options for patients.
  
  

• Lawmakers should focus on enforcing existing laws against illegal drug sales, while preserving access to lawful, patient-specific pharmacy compounding.
  
  

• Patients should not lose care because poorly developed legislation unnecessarily targets lawful compounding pharmacies.