A question you may ask yourself: What is compounding and why is it so important? Compounding sometimes involves nothing more than crushing a pill into a powder and mixing it into a liquid. However most of the time it is not that simple. It can involve mixing several ingredients using many techniques to form pills, suppositories, eye drops, ointments and creams, and even injections.
Bremo Pharmacy is one of the few pharmacies around that takes interest in compounding medications for the special needs of our customers. You may wonder why a doctor would write a prescription for a compounded medication especially with the numerous drug manufacturers and products available on the shelf. Believe it or not, an ever-increasing number of people have unique health requirements that off-the-shelf medicine cannot remedy. For these unique people, customized compounded medications are prescribed by physicians and mixed by licensed and trained pharmacists and technicians at Bremo pharmacy.
Another population that most do not think about is the greater demand for veterinary compounding. For those of us who want to keep our four-legged furry friends healthy, the narrow selection of veterinary medicine sometimes is not large enough to meet the requirements of our animal’s health. Many local licensed veterinarians rely upon us to prepare medications for animals. We compound many prescriptions for all types of animals not limited to dogs and cats.
So, what unique situations require special compounding? A physician may prescribe compounded medications if the individual is allergic to preservatives or dyes that can be found in manufactured medications. Sometimes companies will stop making certain products because the medications are no longer profitable to the manufacturer. Therefore compounding allows us to make these products that are approved to be safe but no longer available. Another common situation is when a person cannot ingest the medication in its commercially available form. The pharmacist may need to prepare it in a way the person can easily take, such as a liquid form. More commonly, compounding is useful to make our children’s medicine more flavorful. We offer many different flavor additives to help make your child’s medicine go down without a fit. As well, we have a selection of flavor additives for your animal’s medications.
How can Bremo offer our compounding services for you? Compounding must always be ordered by the prescriber or doctor. Bremo was a founding member of Pharmacy Compounding Centers of America (PCCA). As members with this organization we have access to unlimited quality-controlled formulas and around the clock help. For 28 years we have offered specialty solutions in the form of compounded medications. Both our primary compounding technician, Derek Abbott, CPhT, and our manager pharmacist, Sandy Michael, R.Ph., completed a weeklong certification-training program in compounding. We are associated with local eye centers and provide topical eye products and injections. Also, we specially compound injections for erectile dysfunction and offer various hormone replacement therapies for women who cannot tolerate oral medications. Of course, this is only a sample of what Bremo offers.
Because every person is different and has different needs, customized compounding has always been a critical party of quality medical care. Please remember that compounding requires prescriptions from licensed practioners (doctors, vets) and we would be happy to talk with you if you happen to have a unique compounding need.
Written by: Margaret Sutton, PharmD candidate 2007
