What is compounding?

Compounded medicines are prescriptions written by a physician, dentist, veterinarian, or other authorized prescriber and prepared for an individual patient. They are prepared by a pharmacist or technician to meet an individuals need as determined by the prescriber.
In every field of medicine there are some patients who don't respond to traditional methods of treatment. Sometimes they need medicine at strengths that are not manufactured by drug companies, or perhaps they simply need a different method of ingesting a medication.
Gabby, shown here preparing to make Naltrexone capsules, is just one of our Compounding Pharmacy Technicians. She has been helping out in the compounding lab since she joined the Center Drugs team in February of 2024. If you have compounding questions, make sure to talk with Gabby or Drew, our Chief Compounding Pharmacist today!
What are some reasons for compounding?
- when a child needs a smaller dose than the manufacturer makes
- when a patient can not tolerate an inactive ingredient in a medication
- when a manufactured medication has been discontinued for various reasons
- when a dosage form of a medication is not commercially available
- when a medication needs to be customized to your individual needs
What are some things we can do?
- change dosages and strengthen
- enhance flavors
- make combination drugs
- make unique dosage forms
- make products not available from manufacturers
- natural hormone replacement therapies
What can we prepare?
- Capsules
- Creams
- Dental preps
- Discontinued products
- Gels
- Lip balms
- Ointments
- Suppositories
- Syrups
- Troches
- Veterinary supplies