Americans trust that the med ications they take are safe. That trust rests on a simple assump tion: the ingredients entering the United States have been properly vetted before reaching patients. They rely on the expectation that medicines meet rigorous safety standards and that regulators will identify risks before dangerous or substandard products reach pharmacy shelves. The question today is whether our system can still deliver on that promise.
During my years in law en forcement, I learned that threats rarely arrive without warning. They develop when oversight lacks and weaknesses and vulner abilities are left unaddressed until a crisis is already underway.
That is why the rapid expan sion of illicit compounding should concern every American. As a for mer partner in a compounding pharmacy, I have seen how com pounding enables pharmacists to prepare customized medications for patients with specific med ical needs when commercially available options are unsuitable or unavailable, including during drug shortages.
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