Why Do I Have to Wait for My Compounded Prescription?

It has been a tiring day.  You waited for months to get an appointment with the specialist, waited an hour at the specialist’s office and then drove around town trying to find a pharmacy able to compound your custom prescription.  You found Custom Care Pharmacy & Compounding Centre in Oshawa, but now you are being told that there is a two day turnaround time for your compounded treatment…why does it take so long?

Prescriptions for compounded medications are special and require extra care, which takes time.  Compounded medications consist of active drug ingredients and inactive filler and base ingredients.  As with any other prescription, the pharmacist checks it to make sure the compounded medication is safe, effective and appropriate.  However, in the case of a compounded treatment, each individual ingredient, and the combination of these ingredients, has to be checked to ensure safety and efficacy.   Not all drugs are compatible with each other, or with all filler and base ingredients.

Single-dose oral syringes allow customized dosing for our pediatric patients, and are easier for the parents to administer

Furthermore, establishing efficacy for a compounded medication is complicated because there usually aren’t any clinical trials published regarding unique compounds.  Therefore, each ingredient in the formulation is carefully researched and we work with your physician to ensure that you receive the best compound formulation to obtain optimal health outcomes.

Acquisition of the ingredients for the compounded medication is sometimes difficult due to their special nature and sourcing takes time.  When the ingredients arrive at the pharmacy, we check their Certificates of Analysis to make sure that they are of medicinal grade and the best quality.

Compounding medications demands detail-oriented care.  Some ingredients require preparation before mixing.  For example, when we compound a certain thyroid medication, the medication granules need to dry overnight under our laboratory hood with the fan running.  Also, one cannot simply mix the ingredients together in a bowl.  A specific method for mixing the ingredients using specialized equipment is needed, and in a certain order to ensure that the ingredients combine together and do not clump.  Different ingredients require different bases to ensure that they dissolve properly, remain stable and won’t precipitate.

After the compound is prepared, we conduct various tests on it to ensure that it is an elegant and effective product.  If the compound is a complex sterile product, we conduct tests to check its sterility in-house, and also send some to a third party tester to validate the results.  We also do stability testing to make sure the “Before Use Date (BUD)” of the compound is accurate.

Our Compounding Specialists are covered from head to toe to protect the product from contamination.

We take great care to ensure that our patients receive compounded treatments and products of the highest quality, and appreciate the understanding from our patients when we say it will take up to two business days.  To make it more convenient, we can deliver the medication once it has been compounded so that you don’t have to make another trip to the pharmacy.

Visit Custom Care Pharmacy & Compounding Centre at 501 Coldstream Drive in Oshawa and chat with one of our caring and knowledgeable Compounding Specialists about the process!  We can also be reached by email at service@customcarepharmacy.ca or telephoned at 905-240-8881.  We look forward to speaking with you!