All compounding pharmacies are not the same.
Choosing a compounding pharmacy may be as important as choosing your doctor. It is imperative to take control of your healthcare options including who you will trust to compound your customized medications. It is essential that you search for a pharmacy that is experienced and trained specifically in compounding.
Find out where the pharmacy is getting their ingredients from.
A qualified compounding pharmacy needs to have the best ingredients – that are tested – to compound a high quality medication to meet your needs. A compounded medication is only as good as the ingredients that go into it.
Look at more than just price.
If you are purchasing a manufactured medication, comparing
prices from pharmacy to pharmacy can be valuable. However, with compounds, the old adage “You get what you pay for.” has never been truer. Take, for instance, progesterone cream. When made at Norland Avenue Pharmacy, we use “Special Micronized Progesterone”. This means 99.9% of the particles are five micron in size or less which is important because the smaller the particles, the better the absorption in the body. Other pharmacies may use just plain Micronized Progesterone, or it may not be micronized at all!
Next, Norland Avenue Pharmacy uses Versabase cream which has been clinically demonstrated to deliver four times more medication than the commonly used Vanicream. Norland then runs the mixture through a machine called an ointment mill to further reduce grittiness and create something known as micelles. What you need to know about micelles is they too enhance the absorption of medication.
Now our label will read “Progesterone Cream” as will another pharmacy’s, but as you can see, the two products can be very different. With compounding it is much harder to ensure you’re comparing apples to apples when it comes to price.
Be sure the pharmacy has standard operating procedures in place and regularly test their products.
Standard operating procedures help ensure that you receive the same high quality product regardless of what technician is working that day to make your compounded medication. And, to further ensure quality, the finished compounds should regularly be sent to a third-party lab to test the strength and stability of the compound.
Ask if the pharmacy is PCAB Accredited.
PCAB stands for Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation Board. This Board has developed national standards based on the consensus of industry experts regarding which elements should exist in a pharmacy that adheres to high quality
standards. While every pharmacy must be licensed to meet the requirements by their State Board of Pharmacy, PCAB Accredited pharmacies have gone the extra mile to meet more stringent and comprehensive standards to assure quality.
As with any other healthcare decision, you have choices when it comes to finding a compounding pharmacy. Be sure to take the time to ensure you are getting the best products or services available.
*These statements are culmination of the knowledge and experience of the team at Norland Pharmacy. The information provided here is for informational purposes only. Please consult your healthcare provider with questions concerning any medical condition or treatment. Compounded medications are not reviewed by the FDA for safety or efficacy. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration, and this product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
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