Compounding is a practice whereby a licensed physician, pharmacist, or, in regard to an outsourcing facility, an individual under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist, alters, mixes, or combines drug ingredients to create a medication designed in accordance to the needs of a patient.
Compounding ranges in complexity, from the preparation of a multicomponent parenteral nutrition solution to the simple addition of a liquid to a manufactured powder.
The difference between general compounding and manufactured products typically lies in the pharmacist-patient-practitioner relationship, various conditions of sale, and the creation of a relatively small quantity of the substance.
Who Is Involved In General Compounding?
According to the FDA (Food & Drug Administration), licensed pharmacists and licensed medical doctors are permitted to prepare and prescribe compounding medications. A compound pharmacy must only fill compounding prescriptions with a valid order. Physicians are able to prescribe these drugs only if they deem them an appropriate treatment option for the patient in question. The FDA requires compounding physicians and pharmacists to maintain a professional relationship with the patients they treat or with one another.
Why Choose A Compound Pharmacy?
In certain situations, a child may require medication in a dosage that is not commonly available, or a patient may suffer from allergies to an ingredient included in a particular medication. Compounding services make it possible to create the medication without the inclusion of the problem ingredient. Or, perhaps an individual requires a particular drug that is no longer manufactured by pharmaceutical companies – a compound pharmacy may be able to formulate it.
Veterinary Compounding Services
Veterinarians commonly turn to compound pharmacies when particular drugs are unavailable. A pet may require a different dose of a drug than the standard prescription offers or may need it in a form that is more easily administered. In some cases, an animal may require a drug that is available for people but not pets; compounding pharmacies can create the medicine specifically for the animal in question.
Learn More About Compounding Services
Chief Operating Officer, The Compounding Pharmacy of America
Matthew Poteet, Pharm.D. graduated with Honors from Lee University with a Bachelors of Science in Biological Science. After his undergraduate training, he completed the Doctor of Pharmacy program at Mercer University Southern School of Pharmacy, graduating in 2004. Dr. Poteet has spent much of his pharmacy career on staff at two of the most prestigious academic teaching hospitals in the Southeast; Emory University in Atlanta and Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. At these institutions he received extensive experience and training in sterile products compounding.
He returned home to East Tennessee in 2010, where he has held the position of Pharmacy Director at two sterile products pharmacies in Knoxville. Matthew lives in Knoxville with his wife, Chris. Dr. Poteet is Tennessee’s first Board Certified Anti-Aging Pharmacist by the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine.
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