12 Jun 13 Basic Compounding Pharmacy Information

Not everyone is aware of the fact that aside from a regular pharmacy, where many people obtain prescription medications, there is also what is called a compounding pharmacy. This is a specialty pharmaceutical company that makes compounded drugs. A compound pharmacists, mixes or adjusts the ingredients within a medication in order to customize a drug to meet a patient’s unique needs.

To give you a better understanding, the following are a few compounding pharmacy facts:

• Drugs that are compounded often have the same active ingredients as brand name or generic forms of prescription products. However, generally, what makes these specialty medications different is they can be made in strengths not readily available; the inactive ingredients can be different from regular prescription drugs and made without sugars, dyes, preservatives, etc; and they can be developed in various forms (i.e. pills that are hard to swallow can be prepared as liquid or in the form of lozenges).
• A compound pharmacy can create preparations for both humans and animals.
• The special formulations that are created are only available via prescription.
• This type of pharmacy plays a vital role in the development of new drugs.

Finally, remember that there is more than one compounding pharmacy and, as with everything else, it is important to choose the company that will provide the highest quality compounded products.