Compounding group charges critic has drug-company ties

The International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists (IACP) has accused the North American Menopause Society (NAMS) and its executive director, Wulf Utian, M.D., of not fully disclosing its ties to drug company Wyeth. Utian appeared on CNN's "Larry King Live" TV show last year in a program on the benefits and risks of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy and insisted that he had no ties to the company. "When NAMS advises patients against taking alternatives to Wyeth's products, as it has on "Larry King Live" and elsewhere, it should disclose its ties to Wyeth," charged L.D. King, executive director of IACP. A spokesman for NAMS admitted that the nonprofit organization does receive funding from Wyeth and other drug manufacturers, but said that Utian was not speaking as a representative of the organization. "I have been involved in clinical research for 40 years, and I do not consult for Wyeth," Utian told Drug Topics. "My concern is that some compounding pharmacies make claims for safety and efficacy without evidence and that these drugs have not undergone FDA safety studies."

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