Our Compounding Pharmacy Makes Taking Your Medicine a Little Easier

Yes. Children and the elderly are often the types of patients who benefit most from compounding. Often parents have a tough time getting their children to take medicine because of the taste. A compounding pharmacist can work directly with the physician and the patient to select a flavoring agent, such as vanilla butternut or tutti frutti, which provides both an appropriate match for the medication's properties and the patient's taste preferences.

Almost any kind. Compounded prescriptions are ideal for any patient requiring unique dosages and/or delivery devices, which can take the form of solutions, suppositories, sprays, oral rinses, lollipops and even as transdermal sticks. Compounding applications can include: Bio-identical Hormone Replacement Therapy, Veterinary, Hospice, Pediatric, Opthalmic, Dental, Otic (for the ear), Dermatology, Medication Flavoring, Chronic Pain Management, Neuropathies, Sports Medicine, Infertility, Wound Therapy, Podiatry, and Gastroenterology.

Because compounded medications are exempt by law from having the National Drug Code ID numbers that manufactured products carry, some insurance companies will not directly reimburse the compounding pharmacy. However, almost every insurance plan allows for the patient to be reimbursed by sending in claims forms. While you may be paying a pharmacy directly for a compounded prescription, most insurance plans should cover the final cost.

Compounding may or may not cost more than conventional medication. Its cost depends on the type of dosage form and equipment required, plus the time spent researching and preparing the medication. Fortunately, compounding pharmacists have access to pure-grade quality chemicals which dramatically lower overall costs and allow them to be very competitive with commercially manufactured products.

Compounding has been part of healthcare since the origins of pharmacy, and is widely used today in all areas of the industry – from hospitals to nuclear medicine. Over the last decade, compounding's resurgence has largely benefitted from advances in technology, quality control and research methodology. The Food and Drug Administration has stated that compounded prescriptions are both ethical and legal as long as they are prescribed by a licensed practitioner for a specific patient and compounded by a licensed pharmacy. In addition, compounding is regulated by state boards of pharmacy.

Prescription compounding is a rapidly growing component of many physicians' practices. But in today's world of aggressive marketing by drug manufacturers, some may not realize the extent of compounding's resurgence in recent years. Ask your physician about compounding. Then get in touch with a compounding pharmacy – one that is committed to providing high-quality compounded medication in the dosage form and strength prescribed by the physician.

Yes. Apple Valley Pharmacy also offers veterinary compounding services.