APHA-ASP CHAPTER MEETING
Speaker
– Cindy Marek (11-5-2012)
This week I had the opportunity to hear compounding pharmacist Cindy
Marek from the College of Dentistry speak about the role of pharmacists in
compounding practice and discuss the recent meningitis outbreak. Dr. Marek
discussed that the reason for compounding drugs is that the patient cannot
tolerate the manufactured product due to a particular characteristic of the
drug such as dyes, preservatives, ethanol, flavor, or the dose or dosage
form. Another reason for compounding
medications is that the commercial product is no longer available perhaps due
to safety issues or loss of market share.
The most common compounded medications are for pain, dermatology, or
hormone treatment. An essential component of compounding is the triad consisting
of the doctor, pharmacists, and patient.
This triad helps to serve as a safety mechanism in providing healthcare
to the patient. In the case of the meningitis outbreak where the New England
Compounding Center was shipping large quantities of drug across the United
States, this triad safety system was broken. The meningitis outbreak was caused
by several different fungal species and has led to numerous deaths. It has also negatively affected the field of
compounding. Pharmacists will have to
work to inform the public that with sterile techniques compounding is a safe and effective option of drug preparation.
