Retail pharmacists (or ‘Chemists’ as they were known) were the historical source for medications before the development of the modern day pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. Healthcare professionals and consumers should keep in mind that pharmacies, especially those that specialize in compounding, can be an alternative source for medications during a shortage. This is particularly true for medications that are no longer patent protected (genericized) and when the patented medication that is in short supply is a longer acting (patent protected) version of an off-patent medication. Just this month a shortage of a sustained released medication for Crohns left many patients scrambling to find supply, but the original non-sustained release substance was readily available in powder form for pharmacists to compound with. Patients who understood what compounding pharmacies can do (in conjunction with their physician) were able to get capsules of the short acting substance compounded. This meant they had to take the medication 3 times per day instead of once a day but it allowed them uninterrupted therapy. Anybody who has Crohns or knows someone who does can appreciate how important maintenance therapy can be.
Compounding pharmacies can play a vital role in situations where medications fall into supply problems or where there are discontinued for business or financial reasons rather than medical reasons.