$2M-revenue compounding pharmacy association found itself coordinating industry response to deadly meningitis outbreak

When the International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists first learned of a voluntary recall of steroid injections by a Massachusetts-based pharmacy in September, it found the news of interest but not unusual. After all, drugs are recalled all the time, IACP CEO David Miller said.

The organization quickly realized this recall would be different. People were getting sick and dying from the shots. Soon the industry—and IACP itself—would be under attack by politicians, the media and a very angry public.

"An association, when faced with a situation like this, before anything else happens, first and foremost needs to make a decision, and that decision is, do you run from this or do you confront it?" Miller told CEO Update.

IACP, a $2 million-revenue association with 10 staff, would confront it, coordinating an industry-wide response to what had become a national medical crisis. The move would prompt scorn and even death threats, but also the appreciation of a grateful industry that showed its support through increased membership and funding.

"If you handle a crisis correctly, if you don't run from a problem, if you do what you have always said you did … surprisingly enough, there are benefits that come out of that," Miller said.

Communication is key

Nearly 600 people in the U.S. have become sick and 37 died after contracting fungal meningitis and other infections from medication prepared by the New England Compounding Center, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Missouri City, Texas-based IACP—which also has a Washington, D.C., office—had never faced a situation quite like the one that unfolded, and most of its staff had worked at the organization for less than three years. What it did have was a six-page crisis communications plan, drafted by a director of communications who had joined IACP the year before.

That plan was circulated among staff and IACP leadership. Still, the group was overwhelmed with media calls, so it hired public relations firm Ball Consulting Group to bring some order to the chaos. Members were told to direct media inquires to the firm so the industry could speak with a consistent voice.

"Most members, especially in this business, think that talking to the media is a good thing because that gives them some visibility," Miller said. He added that part of his job was "putting the fear of God into the members that dealing with the media in good times is not what it is in bad times."

IACP also raised $750,000 from members to help heal the industry's bruised public image. Miller established an oversight committee that included past and current board members to oversee the use of funds and make sure they were leading to measurable results.

The one challenge Miller said he did not expect to confront was security. After receiving several threatening emails and phones calls—including from one person who threatened to shoot up the office—IACP consulted a security firm and started recording correspondence as a precaution.

Reward of frankness

IACP was not the only association to respond to the meningitis outbreak. Any group representing any aspect of the pharmaceutical distribution has addressed the issue in one way or another.

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores focused its efforts on educating congressional members and their staffs about the differences between what their members do and what the Massachusetts company did, according to NACDS spokespeople.

The National Community Pharmacists Association released a poll showing that most of its members practice compounding, but only as a small part of what they do. The organization wanted examples to differentiate the small-scale compounding its members do versus "the mass-scale production the [New England Compounding Center] appears to have been doing," NCPA CEO B. Douglas Hoey said.

For IACP, the fight isn't over. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce sent a letter to the organization Dec. 7 demanding it turn over documents about its efforts assisting pharmacies in their dealings with federal regulators. The group responded it would comply.

While he emphasized that he didn't want to downplay the tragedy of the deaths, Miller noted the crisis has helped IACP. New memberships have shot up 58 percent from the year before, while renewals are above 98 percent. If an association doesn't hide from a problem, it will see benefits from taking it on, he said.

"We have to stand up and speak not only on behalf of our members, but the entire profession we represent."