Unavailable or Discontinued Medications

Physicians regularly face a dilemma when the medication that is preferred to treat a particular patient or condition is temporarily unavailable, or has been discontinued by the manufacturer for financial reasons (low usage leading to decreased profits). When the most appropriate medication is no longer available, the physician normally has to choose a drug which is less familiar, or which may be less effective or have more side effects.

However, there is another option. The physician can contact our specially trained compounding professionals, and request that we formulate the unavailable medication. Many times, we can obtain the active ingredient as a bulk pharmaceutical grade powder which we can use to compound a very similar preparation. By request, we can even modify the original formulation to better meet the needs of a specific patient. This process occurs on a regular basis in our pharmacy.

Recently, physicians have requested that our pharmacy compound alternatives for many unavailable medications, such as:

• Betahistine (for Meniere's disease or vertigo)
• Doxylamine and vitamin B6 (for morning sickness) formerly marketed as Bendectin, removed due to fear of teratogenicity which proved to be unfounded
• Hydrocortisone suspension
• Nystatin suspension

Many drugs frequently used in infants and young children are not commercially available in suitable dosage forms, and often liquid preparations must be extemporaneously compounded. We can compound medications in the most appropriate dose and dosage form to simplify administration, prepare oral medications in the patient's favorite flavor and color, and eliminate problem-causing additives such as sugar, lactose, dyes, and alcohol.

Copyright 2006, Storey Marketing - Monthly Website Updates. All rights reserved. Questions regarding this article should be directed to the compounding professionals at Pharmacy Innovations.