In 2023, California firefighters lost the ability to nebulize glutathione at home, despite it being a safe, legal, and effective treatment for smoke inhalation.

For nearly a year, we’ve fought against proposed regulations from the California State Board of Pharmacy (BOP) that would codify this loss.

Now, we appear to be on the verge of a preliminary but critical victory.

On March 1, the BOP released a new version of their proposed regulations, which no longer places prohibitive restrictions on pharmacists’ ability to compound glutathione. (Read the addendum here.)

We know this feels like a win and, while there’s reason to feel hopeful, we don’t want to celebrate prematurely.

First, we don’t know how board members will vote at their March 6th meeting, but we do know this: when firefighters show up to these meetings, we win. When they don’t, we lose. (Meeting instructions here.)

Second, while a victory on March 6 would be the first step in regaining access to self-administered glutathione, we still have a lot of work to do before pharmacists return to dispensing it.

To be clear, our fight is to regain the ability to nebulize glutathione daily, at home, for as long as a prescribing doctor deems necessary (typically 30-60 days for a firefighter).

Under the current regulatory environment, the only way a firefighter can nebulize glutathione in California is to receive one treatment at a time, under doctor's supervision.

Not only is it time-prohibitive to complete every treatment in a doctor's office, it would cost 500-750% more.

Board members are capable of understanding the difference between self and doctor-administered treatment, so it’s disingenuous for them to claim in the addendum that our firefighters' testimony is evidence that “treatments using compounded glutathione continue in California.”

One-off treatments, yes.

But again, a full course of inhalable glutathione treatment is 30 to 60 doses.

Nebulizing at one of our Firefighter Detox Clinics or in a medical office is helpful, but in no way replaces a full treatment protocol, which can only be completed at home.

Self-administered glutathione treatment is not radical; it’s available in 49 other states and it was available here until 2023.

We find it deeply concerning that doctors can legally prescribe it for California patients, but no pharmacist in the U.S. will dispense it to us for fear of retribution from BOP staff.

So yes, we will show up to the March 6 meeting – in person and virtually – to defend pharmacists’ ability to compound glutathione and patients’ right to access it.

But regardless of what happens with these regulations, until firefighters can nebulize glutathione at home the way their doctors intend, our fight continues.

PLEASE VISIT WWW.VOLUNTEERFIRE.ORG/STOP-BOP FOR MARCH 6 MEETING INFO. 

MAKE A PLAN. SHOW UP. SPEAK OUT.

WE NEED EVERY POSSIBLE VOICE TO WIN THIS THING!