foodconsumer.org: During Liquid Tamiflu Shortage, Pharmacists Relearn the Art of Compounding

During Liquid Tamiflu Shortage, Pharmacists Relearn the Art of Compounding
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admin on 09/26/2009 21:09:00
 
By Rachel Stockton
Last week my son and I were watching a TV Land marathon of the Andy Griffith
Show.  It was released during 1961, the first season the show aired. Eleanor
Walker, who’d starred in Father Knows Best, played Ellie, the local
pharmacist.
In one scene, Ellie had on her lab coat while she carefully mixed up several
potions.  My son asked what she was doing; I told him she was “compounding.”
He looked at me blankly, and I realized that he didn’t know that at one time,
pharmacists regularly compounded various medications in their own labs.
It looks like some of them will go back to the compounding art, at least until
liquid Tamiflu rallies and hits pharmacy shelves.  Although pharmacists learn
compounding while earning their degrees, Roche, the manufacturer of Tamiflu, is
advising pharmacists on how to compound capsules for young children and adults
who are unable to swallow pills.
The process of compounding takes about 20 minutes, and must be done every time a
person comes in to have a prescription filled.  Because pharmacies are not
allowed to manufacture medications, batches of the medication can’t be made up
ahead, in batches.
Tamiflu and Relenza, which is manufactured by SmithKlineGlaxo, can help reduce
some of the more severe symptoms of the flu if taken early enough. As of right
now, the CDC and the World Health Organization are advising physicians and
pharmacists to only give the antiviral medication to those who are the most
“at risk” of suffering from severe complications.