Walgreens "Compunding Pharmacy"
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Walgreens "Compunding Pharmacy"
While in Portland, OR today I drove by a Walgreens (I did not note the address) that said "Compounding Pharmacy" on its road sign. What if anything is different from a regular pharmacy? This is the first Walgreens I have seen with this signage.
Re: Walgreens "Compunding Pharmacy"
Compounding in pharmacy is when you custom make drugs in various forms. For example, some patients require solid pills to be converted to a liquid form.
Compounding pharmacies are pharmacies that specialize in making custom drug forms. For example, some compounding pharmacies make medications for intravenous use. These are liquid medications injected into veins. A patient may need a plastic IV bag filled with several different medications in specific amounts. The pharmacy technicians will add medication in specific amounts. This process needs to be done under sterile conditions inside of biological safety cabinets or in laminar airflow hoods. Some patients may have compromised immune systems and need sterile IV medications.
This compounding process is very critical. If a single mistake in dosage or drug is made, a patient could die. The employees need to be highly trained and skilled in order to work at such pharmacies. P.S. I am one such person.
Pharmaceutical companies often make drugs in factories and they only produce a drug in one form such as a pill. Some patients might not be able to take it in that form, so a compounding pharmacy may grind it up and turn it into a liquid.
These pharmacies may also make custom drugs such as drugs in the form of lollipops, liquid medications with flavorings, liquid medications that are free of allergic ingredients, special lozenges, etc.
Compounding pharmacies make a lot of money. The drug making process is very expensive and requires expert employees. The employees get paid quite a lot.
Some Safeway Pharmacies have started doing compounding. It is a source of revenue for them. Right now most compounding pharmacies are mom and pop stores. Most major drug store chains did not want to take on compounding in the past because it required hiring of highly skilled and expensive employees who are trained to do compounding.
Drug stores want to cut costs and prefer standard pharmacies where they can pay people low wages to do simple pharmacy tasks like counting pills. A compounding pharmacy needs to invest in expensive equipment in order to properly do compounding. Some drug stores would not want to spend the money.
When I was at CVS, the employees only did simple tasks such as count out pills and fill bottles with pre-made liquid medication. Anything more advanced, they were not able to do. They didn't know how to make IV medications. A simple task such as mixing a cream was a big ordeal. That was the extent of their knowledge.
Compounding pharmacies are pharmacies that specialize in making custom drug forms. For example, some compounding pharmacies make medications for intravenous use. These are liquid medications injected into veins. A patient may need a plastic IV bag filled with several different medications in specific amounts. The pharmacy technicians will add medication in specific amounts. This process needs to be done under sterile conditions inside of biological safety cabinets or in laminar airflow hoods. Some patients may have compromised immune systems and need sterile IV medications.
This compounding process is very critical. If a single mistake in dosage or drug is made, a patient could die. The employees need to be highly trained and skilled in order to work at such pharmacies. P.S. I am one such person.
Pharmaceutical companies often make drugs in factories and they only produce a drug in one form such as a pill. Some patients might not be able to take it in that form, so a compounding pharmacy may grind it up and turn it into a liquid.
These pharmacies may also make custom drugs such as drugs in the form of lollipops, liquid medications with flavorings, liquid medications that are free of allergic ingredients, special lozenges, etc.
Compounding pharmacies make a lot of money. The drug making process is very expensive and requires expert employees. The employees get paid quite a lot.
Some Safeway Pharmacies have started doing compounding. It is a source of revenue for them. Right now most compounding pharmacies are mom and pop stores. Most major drug store chains did not want to take on compounding in the past because it required hiring of highly skilled and expensive employees who are trained to do compounding.
Drug stores want to cut costs and prefer standard pharmacies where they can pay people low wages to do simple pharmacy tasks like counting pills. A compounding pharmacy needs to invest in expensive equipment in order to properly do compounding. Some drug stores would not want to spend the money.
When I was at CVS, the employees only did simple tasks such as count out pills and fill bottles with pre-made liquid medication. Anything more advanced, they were not able to do. They didn't know how to make IV medications. A simple task such as mixing a cream was a big ordeal. That was the extent of their knowledge.