Compounding Matters Quarterly - Spring 2015

pharmacy because it will enable your business to
grow. Its value in a crisis multiplies. The right database
can have a huge impact if you need to contact all
customers or implement a recall. Making sure that
data is backed up in a safe, accessible, off-site
location is key.
4. Evaluate Your Insurance—How much is enough
insurance for a compounding pharmacy? Whatever
your answer is, it likely needs to be doubled or tripled.
An independent insurance expert should review your
business and its needs and make recommendations
about the right level of coverage. Before filing an
insurance claim, a public insurance adjuster can
provide the expertise you need to ensure fairness in
the claims process.
5. Have Your Experts on Hand—Now is the time to build
professional relationships that can be a lifeline in a
crisis. If you are a compounding pharmacy and your
only attorney is the real estate lawyer who reviews
your lease or the labor attorney who writes your offer
letters, establish a relationship with an attorney that
has the regulatory experience needed to successfully
interact with the federal and state agencies that
would be involved in a crisis. Identify a public relations
practitioner who has crisis management capabilities –
if you engage them to develop a crisis plan there will
be no ramp-up time in a crisis.
6. Keep the Lines of Communication Open with
Patients and Providers—Many organizations in
crisis forget how important it is to keep customers
informed during a crisis. Your website and social
media sites are excellent vehicles for keeping the
public apprised of your challenges and how you are
dealing with them. In our experience, loyalty will be
retained as long as the pharmacy keeps in contact
with its key constituents.
This is a new age for compounding pharmacies.
The public demands the highest level of quality and
compounders are providing it. Still, things can go
wrong. Often, they will be things over which you
have no control.
So give yourself some control.
It is essential to be prepared for whatever may come
your way. If you are ready, you will likely weather
the storm.
David A. Ball is President of Ball Consulting
Group, LLC, a public relations and crisis
management firm that serves the
compounding pharmacy profession.
How PR Can Have an Impact
In much the same way that a slow drip from the hot
water heater can quickly evolve into a ruptured tank
and a basement with six feet of water, the New England
Compounding Center (NECC) crisis began in Fall of 2012
with one or two isolated calls to IACP from reporters
wanting to learn more about compounding pharmacies.
It seemed that there was a meningitis outbreak relating
to a large compounding facility west of Boston and that
there were now patient deaths being reported.
Those early media calls led to a tidal wave of
international media interest, as hundreds of patients
took ill, and deaths began to be reported by the CDC
seemingly every day. As details emerged about unsafe
practices at NECC and a lack of government oversight,
journalists were demanding answers, soon to be
followed by members of Congress.
IACP’s objective was clear: to educate the public
about the compounding pharmacy profession and to
demonstrate that the practices of NECC were in no way
representative of the profession. A backlash that could
have prevented patients from getting their medications
and potentially put compounding pharmacists across
the country out of business had to be stopped.
The volume of media calls for an association with a lean
staff was overwhelming. CNN, Reuters, CBS, NBC, ABC,
Associated Press, The New York Times, The Washington
Post, The Wall Street Journal and hundreds of other
outlets all wanted access and answers. They were
waiting for the profession to say something.
The risk of being unresponsive in a crisis like that is
a loss of credibility among media and the members.
Journalists remember not getting their calls returned
and to do so would limit IACP’s future access to
the media. Moreover, if the message could not be
perfected and provided, the entire profession would
be under an assault that would have deep and farlasting
consequences. A black mark would forever be
associated with the practice of compounding pharmacy.
“For those who lead associations, you often have an
intuitive feel about when an event is so extraordinary
that outside help is urgently needed,” said IACP EVP
& CEO David G. Miller, RPh. “We needed help, our
members needed help, and we activated a plan to bring
in the resources that we needed to gain control over the
situation.”
IACP engaged Ball Consulting Group, LLC, a public
relations and crisis communications firm in the Boston
area that had experience in, and familiarity with,
compounding pharmacy issues. The firm came up
with a strategy for dealing with the crisis. It developed
messages, issued statements, prepared IACP leaders
for media interviews, and ensured that every media call
would get a response.
Continued on page 9
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