What is Compounding?

Compounding is the art and science of creating personalized medicine. Many patients have unique health needs that off-the-shelf, manufactured medications cannot meet. For these patients, personalized medication solutions – prescribed by licensed practitioners and prepared by trained, licensed pharmacists – often are the only way to better health.

Working with a physician, a compounding pharmacist can meet individual needs of children, adults and animals. Whether it’s an allergy to a dye or ingredient, a need for a different strength, or a preference for a different dosage form, compounding pharmacists provide patients with solutions to their medication needs. Some of the reasons that patients consider compounding:

When the patient is allergic to certain preservatives, dyes or binders in available off-the-shelf medications;
When treatment requires tailored dosage strengths for patients with unique needs (for example, an infant);
When a pharmacist can combine several medications a patient is taking to increase compliance;
When a patient cannot ingest the medication in its commercially available form and a pharmacist can prepare the medication in cream, liquid or other form that the patient can easily take;
When medications require flavor additives to make them more palatable for some patients, most often, children; and
When needed medications are discontinued by or generally unavailable from pharmaceutical companies, often because the medications are no longer profitable to manufacture.