Bernardi/Kracoff: Compounding Pharmacy – providing cures, treatment and healing worldwide

The origins of compounding pharmacy coexist with the origins of pharmacy. When people in ancient times developed the first medicines they compounded those medicines.

And for all the centuries since, compounding pharmacy has been a fundamental and indispensable part of pharmacy.

Most prescription medications are commercially manufactured. But, not all some need to be custom made. This customization is compounding pharmacy.

For those of us whose livelihood is compounding pharmacy, and for those who have dedicated so much of our professional lives to this pharmacy discipline, we are deeply saddened and distressed with the meningitis outbreak that is now in 18 states, has taken the lives of 33 and made 480 ill.

The meningitis is linked to injections of tainted compounded steroids that were made at New England Compounding Center (NECC) in Framingham. Let us be clear: NECC has absolutely no relationship to our pharmacy, it never has, and surely never will. It is estimated that as many as 14,000 received injections of the contaminated steroid. For several reasons, including that the incubation period for meningitis varies from person to person, it is difficult to forecast how many of those who received the injection will become sick.

A. governmental investigation is ongoing, and already it has reported findings on physical conditions within NECC that are contrary to the well regulated and strictly licensed practice of compounding pharmacy.

In the interest of public health and wellness, we provide the following questions and answers on compounding.

Q. What is pharmacy compounding?

A. Pharmacy compounding is the practice of a specially-trained pharmacist working in a licensed facility making a custom medication prescribed by a physician. The compounded prescription is written and dispensed for one specific patient.

Physicians across all medical specialties prescribe compounded medications because they are effective treatments for a broad spectrum of conditions and illnesses.

See the original post here:
Bernardi/Kracoff: Compounding Pharmacy – providing cures, treatment and healing worldwide