California nursing board warns many IV-hydration clinics may be operating outside the law

The California Board of Registered Nursing told its Nurse Practitioner Advisory Committee on Sept. 24 that state law prohibits registered nurses and advanced practice nurses from compounding medications and that common retail and mobile IV-hydration models may be operating outside that legal limit. Executive Officer Loretta Melby said the prohibition is “very, very clear” under state law and urged broad education of nurses, educators and employers.

The warning matters because many clinics and franchises offering so-called “IV therapy” or vitamin drips rely on on-demand mixing of vials into IV bags at the point of care. Melby told the committee that, unless a physician is on-site and compounding or a patient-specific order is prepared in advance by a licensed compounding pharmacy, “that nurse is compounding. It is not covered within that emergent or urgent usage,…