In South Africa, a court dispute over a compounding pharmacy has drawn quiet attention to a question older than the case itself: how does a society continue to protect people from medicines once those medicines are already in use? As compounded formulations reach growing numbers of patients — driven in part by global shortages of drugs like semaglutide — the absence of the same traceability and monitoring infrastructure that governs registered pharmaceuticals becomes not merely a regulatory gap, but a human one. The story unfolding in Pretoria is, at its deepest level, a reminder that medicine
Beyond the Courtroom: Why Compounded Medicines Need Robust Safety Monitoring
Compounded medicine safety failures can cause severe infections, outbreaks, and loss of life, as documented in international incidents involving contaminated sterile preparations.