Shown L to R: Michaela Kelly (Legal intern); Jeff Fiarman (general counsel); Joe Costa (COO), New Jersey State
Senator Dr. Jeff Van Drew; Marcy Bliss (president and CEO); Randy Burrows
(director of Business Development); Fred Brody (president, Brody Business
Development Consulting); and Anthony Grzib, (director of Pharmacy Compliance)
(Swedesboro, New Jersey—July 12, 2018)
Wedgewood Pharmacy, one of the
largest compounding pharmacies in the U.S., welcomed New Jersey State Senator
Dr. Jeff Van Drew (D-1) to its pharmacy in Swedesboro yesterday. Van Drew toured
the state-of-the art facilities, meeting with company executives and
constituents to discuss the unique and critical role compounding plays in human
and animal medicine, and the Congressional intent that it remain a
state-licensed practice.
Van Drew, a dentist, has represented the First
Legislative District of New Jersey since 2008 in the New Jersey State Senate and
as a member of the General Assembly from 2002 – 2008. He has held public offices
in the state since 1983. For the 2018-19 Senate session, he serves on the
Community and Urban Affairs Committee (as chair), the Military and Veterans'
Affairs (as vice-chair), the Joint Committee on Housing Affordability, and the
Intergovernmental Relations Commission. In 2008, he sponsored the Fair Market
Drug Pricing Act to establish the New Jersey Rx Card Program to reduce
prescription drug prices.
Van Drew has declared his candidacy for the United
States House of Representatives in the Second Congressional District.Van Drew
said, “My top priority in Congress will be to find ways to bring economic
opportunities and good jobs to South Jersey.”
He continued, “It’s important that
I know the top employers in the region, such as Wedgewood Pharmacy, to
understand how they have been successful on a national scale and how we as
lawmakers can support their success in terms of the tax structure, health
insurance system, and trade policies.”
Marcy A. Bliss, president and CEO of the company added, “As a dentist, Dr.
Van Drew understands the unique and critical role that compounding pharmacies
like ours play in the healthcare system.”
She added, “Our profession is not
always understood in state capitols and in Washington. We greatly appreciated
his visit to become familiar with how compounding is done at the highest levels
of quality, safety, and efficiency so he can be an effective voice for us.”
Wedgewood Pharmacy makes customized medications for people and their pets
when FDA–manufactured drugs cannot meet their needs. Compounded medications are
prescriptions and medication orders that are written by physicians,
veterinarians, and other legally authorized prescribers, and prepared by
specially trained pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.
Compounded
medications are created and prepared by specially trained pharmacists and
pharmacy technicians in state-of-the-art, accredited facilities. These
medications are prescribed and dispensed under orders written by doctors and
veterinarians.
About Wedgewood Pharmacy
In its 37 years, Wedgewood Pharmacy has grown from a local community pharmacy
to become one of the largest human- and animal-health compounding pharmacies in
the United States; it is the leading pharmacy in animal health. Wedgewood
Pharmacy serves more than 40,000 prescribers and hundreds of thousands of
patients throughout the U.S. every year with animal-health and human-health
prescriptions.
George (late) and Lucy Malmberg, both pharmacists, purchased Wedgewood
Pharmacy in 1981; the pharmacy was founded in 1980. In June 2016, Chicago-based
New Harbor Capital became the majority owner of the company.
Wedgewood
Pharmacy is accredited by the Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation Board (PCAB®)
for compliance with PCAB pharmacy compounding accreditation standards. PCAB was
formed by eight of the nation’s leading pharmacy associations and is a service
of Accreditation Commission for Health Care. As a third-party accreditation
organization, PCAB has developed the highest national standards against which
providers are measured to illustrate their ability to effectively and
efficiently deliver quality compounded medications to consumers. The company
employs more than 300 people in its state-of-the-art compounding pharmacy in
Swedesboro, NJ.
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