Friday, July 15, 2016

Facts About Buying Medication At A Compounding Pharmacy

By Diane Peterson


Most people are used to getting prescriptions from doctors and driving to their favorite drugstores to have them filled. They have never thought much about the medications that may not be filled at their favorite pharmacy. Most drugs stores today only dispense medicine. A compounding pharmacy on the other hand is able to get the components required to make a specific drug, measure them precisely and then mix them to create the medicine.

A compounding pharmacist can also omit ingredients from the medicine which may cause an allergic reaction in a patient. The pharmacist will primarily make a precise mixture of chemical substances that are safe for the patient in question. The professional can also add some kind of flavors to medicines to allow children to take them without restraint.

A pharmacist who knows how to compound drugs carries out the process with the aim of creating products that will fit the unique requirements of patients. This includes the size, age and weight of the patient. If you experience side effects after using the standardized medicines in the market or you do want to use them altogether, you can consider buying compounded medications.

Compounding pharmacies produce medication for various conditions like andropause, adrenal fatigue, pain management and wound care among others. Since the compounded prescription medicine is different from that already available in the market, you may be worried about using it. However, the Food and Drug Administration has stated that compounding drugs is ethical and legal as long as the pharmacist doing so is licensed and qualified.

Since medicinal drugs can pose health risks, this industry is heavily regulated. Individual state boards and the FDA have introduced strict guidelines to ensure that patients buying the products of these drug stores remain safe. The bulk drug substances that are used in this kind of pharmacies should be approved and safe to compound with.

Pharmacists are required to only compound medications with ingredients that are on an approved list of substances. The substances that have been proven to be unsafe or ineffective cannot be used to compound drugs. Even though pharmacies are not required to report newly discovered side effects that result from the use of compounded drugs, ethical pharmacies voluntarily report them.

The pharmacies that compound drugs are also required to maintain high quality control standards. Their laboratories must abide by strict facility guidelines in order to ensure consistency and safety in each batch of the drugs they produce. In order to know that a pharmacy complies with these guidelines, you may contact the board of pharmacy in your state. Inspectors from the state board of pharmacy usually carry out regular checks on licensed pharmacies and on batches of the drugs that are being dispensed to ensure that they are safe.

It is important to get a recommendation from your health insurance company or your doctor when seeking a drug store that compounds drugs. You can also use a directory that contains information about these pharmacies in your state. Trustworthy compounding drug stores ensure that their drugs are effective, ethical and safe. They can explain the measures they use to ensure drug safety.




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