In Webster, Texas, the Clear Lake Professional Building Pharmacy is making a difference in the lives of patients by providing customized medications tailored to individual needs. Kevin Gress, pharmacy manager, explained the role of compounding pharmacies in an interview with Community Impact.

What is a Compounding Pharmacy?

A compounding pharmacy custom-prepares medications with personalized strengths, dosage forms, and formulations not available commercially. This can include removing allergens, creating pediatric medications, adjusting flavors, or developing unique delivery methods like creams and lozenges. Compounding pharmacies also help bridge medication shortages and offer bio-identical hormones, dermatological compounds, and safer alternatives for patients with chronic pain.

Clear Lake Professional Building Pharmacy specializes in these areas and also compounds medications for children and pets. According to Gress, patients may need a compounding pharmacy when a commercially available drug is discontinued, on backorder, or not made in the recommended strength or dosage form.

Regulation and Insurance Coverage

Compounding is regulated by state boards of pharmacy and guided by U.S. Pharmacopeia standards. Pharmacies must follow strict requirements for facility design, training, garbing, cleaning, documentation, and quality control to protect patient safety. Chemicals used in compounding must come from FDA-registered facilities.

Insurance coverage for compounded medications varies by plan. Some commercial and Medicare Part D plans cover compounds, but it depends on the ingredients used. In most cases, insurance considers compounded medications non-formulary and requires cash payment.

Original reporting: Community Impact — Houston — read the source article.