COMPOUNDING pharmacists in the US felt the brunt of satirist, John Oliver, on Sun night.
The British star's US show, Last Week Tonight, highlighted concerns about the regulation of compounding pharmacies, dubbing it "the Wild West" of the pharmaceutical industry.
Citing a US Senate report Oliver told viewers that products made by large pharmaceutical manufacturers had a failure rate of 2%, while one-in-three medications compounded by pharmacists failed to meet the required standards.
Oliver noted that some compounding pharmacies were found to have been producing medications in unsanitary conditions, with one pharmacy storing loose pills in an box next to a toilet.
He highlighted the Sep 2012 case when contaminated steroid injections produced by the New England Compounding Center led to a fungal meningitis outbreak, which claimed the lives of more than 100 people in the US.
Since the outbreak, new voluntary regulations have been introduced, however, the lack of an obligation to follow the rules has seen just 77 compounding pharmacies across the US signing up to enforce them, Oliver told the audience.
"If you need everyone to obey a rule it can't be voluntary," he said.
"It's why stop signs say 'STOP' and not 'shrug emoji'".
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