19 May HCG Compounds Are Going Away March 23, 2020
Pharmacy Solutions has been compounding high quality HCG products for decades. HCG is an acronym that stands for Human Chorionic Gonadotropin. HCG is a hormone that is typically only produced in the female body during pregnancy. It was discovered that the daily administration of HCG via HCG cream, HCG drops, HCG troches, or HCG injections in addition to a very low calorie diet allowed patients to lose weight quickly. HCG is typically prescribed in 20 day or 40 day weight loss plans. In our practice, the HCG diet has been responsible for our patients losing thousands of pounds. It is definitely a protocol that requires dedication – patients could achieve sustained weight loss if they were diligent and followed the diet plan and maintained adherence to their HCG regimen (and did not cheat!)
In March 2020, HCG is unfortunately being taken away from compounding pharmacies. The Food & Drug Administration has seen fit to reclassify HCG (along with many other molecules) as a “biologic product” as opposed to its’ current definition as a “drug”. This reclassification as a biologic product means that a special biologics license is needed to handle HCG in its powder form. This pure HCG powder is what is used to make HCG creams, HCG troches, HCG liquid drops, and HCG injections. The FDA has not provided a clear path forward to gain this special biologics license for compounding pharmacies. The consequence of this change in terminology is that HCG powder will no longer be able to be used for prescription compounding. All of the compounded HCG products that were once available will cease to be available on March 23, 2020.
Since hearing this unfortunate news, we at Pharmacy Solutions have been testing and developing many different weight loss products that will provide options to patients that once were able to use HCG. Stay tuned to our blog for future weight loss product information and other HCG-related developments.
