Proposed legislation may seriously restrict access to compounded medication.

Learn more and take action: http://ProtectMyCompounds.com/

The Senate HELP Committee has proposed a Bill called the "Pharmaceutical Compounding Quality and Accountability Act" or Senate Bill 959 (S.959), which has significant implications for the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) community and may restrict access to compounded medications you have come to rely on.

If enacted, sterile compounds may be difficult or even impossible to obtain such as;
• Glutathione
• Methyl B12

Non-sterile personalization of medications which make prescriptions easier for your child to take may be harder to get such as;
• capsules and tablets made without allergy inducing fillers or excipients
• creams
• liquid forms

The Bill is a reaction to the tragedy at the New England Compounding Center (NECC) who produced contaminated injectable medication which resulted in patient deaths and others contracting meningitis. Safety is of the utmost importance and the attempt to address this tragedy should be applauded.

Bill S. 959 could limit your Physicians and Pharmacists ability to provide you with the solutions your child needs.

Under the provisions of S.959 could
• force Compounding Pharmacies to give up sterile compounding, or to limit sales within the states in which they are located
• give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) extensive power making it much harder for your doctor to modify medications to meet the specific needs of ASD patients.
• give FDA further authority to require doctors to provide justification and documentation before they can authorize the formulations ASD patients need and the authority to make it harder or even possibly delaying or denying treatment for your children.

Please visit http://protectmycompounds.com/ for more information and to contact your Senators and Representatives to voice your opposition to S.959.

NAA Helping Hand Program

Exciting News from the National Autism Association

NAA has announced that they are now accepting applications for their Helping Hand Program which provides grant funding for medical treatment, lab testing, medications and supplements not covered by insurance. Funding for this program is limited, and will be awarded only to families who are in dire need of financial assistance.

For grant guidelines, complete details and the Helping Hand application form, please click on the link below.

http://nationalautismassociation.org/family-support/programs/helping-hand/

Azithromycin not associated with increased cardiovascular risk in the general population

From ACP Internist (5/7):

Azithromycin was not associated with an increased risk of death from cardiovascular causes in a general population of young and middle-aged adults, a Danish study found

http://www.acpinternist.org/weekly/archives/2013/5/7/index.html#1

Prenatal valproate exposure linked to increased autism risk

From HealthDay News (4/23), Reuters (4/23):

Children born to mothers who took valproate while pregnant had an almost threefold increased risk of having an autism spectrum disorder, a Danish study found. In some mothers who took the epilepsy drug during their pregnancy, the risk of having a child with autism was more than four times greater. The findings, based on 656,000 children born in Denmark between 1996 and 2006, appear in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=675709

Propranolol may help improve the language abilities and social functioning of people with autism

From NewsMax Health (4/17)

Research by University of Missouri-Columbia investigators has determined propranolol may help improve the language abilities and social functioning of people with autism who typically have difficulty communicating with others because they process language, facial expressions, and social cues differently.

http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/newswidget/Drug-Found-to-Boost-Memory-of-Autism-Sufferers/2013/04/17/id/500025?promo_code=F471-1&utm_source=Fox_Health&utm_medium=nmwidget&utm_campaign=widgetphase2