Wedgewood Pharmacy compounds Erythromycin During Manufacturer Backorder

(Swedesboro NJ, November 12, 2009) While Erythromycin ophthalmic ointment is on extended backorder from the manufacturer, Wedgewood Pharmacy will compound this preparation for use in hospitals. Compounded Erythromycin ophthalmic ointment from Wedgewood Pharmacy meets US Pharmacopoeia guidelines for compounding non-sterile and sterile preparations, and each tube is terminally sterilized before it is dispensed.

The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommend using a preventative ocular topical medication for all newborns, and Erythromycin is the only such product available in the United States. Evidence suggests that the application of topical ocular medications reduces blindness caused by gonococcal ophthalmia neonatorum and also “protects infants from ocular infection caused by Chlamydia trachomatis .”

The commercially available Erythromycin ophthalmic ointment is on extended backorder because of a change in the manufacturer. The new manufacturer, Fera Pharmaceuticals, has not indicated when it will be available. During backorders or other shortages of commercially available medications, compounding pharmacies like Wedgewood Pharmacy are able to compound alternatives so that treatment regimens can continue uninterrupted.

Beth DeSouza, Wedgewood Pharmacy’s human health product manager said, “A manufacturer backorder or commercial unavailability of a medication does not lessen a practitioner’s need for that medication as a treatment option. When treating neonatal patients, it is especially critical that the recommended treatments are available. As a compounding pharmacy, we are able to provide Erythromycin ophthalmic ointment to hospitals so they can ensure the treatments they need are available for their patients.”

News Staff,. "Erythromycin Ophthalmic Ointment in Short Supply." AAFP News Now (2009): n. pag. Web. 6 Nov 2009.

A compounding pharmacy creates customized medications for individual patients in response to a licensed practitioner’s prescription. Wedgewood Pharmacy is one of the largest compounding pharmacies in the United States, serving more than 25,000 prescribers of compounded medications. It is located in Swedesboro NJ and licensed throughout the United States.

Because every patient is different and has different needs, customized, compounded medications are a vital part of quality medical care. The basis of the profession of pharmacy has always been the "triad," the patient-prescriber-pharmacist relationship.

Through this relationship, patient needs are determined by a prescriber, who chooses a treatment regimen that may include a compounded medication. Prescribers often prescribe compounded medications for reasons that include (but are not limited to) the following situations:

• When needed medications are discontinued by or generally unavailable from pharmaceutical companies, often because the medications are no longer profitable to manufacture;
• When the patient is allergic to certain preservatives, dyes or binders in available off-the shelf medications;
• When treatment requires tailored dosage strengths for patients with unique needs (for example, an infant);
• When a pharmacist can combine several medications the patient is taking to increase compliance;
• When the patient cannot ingest the medication in its commercially available form and a pharmacist can prepare the medication in cream, liquid or other form that the patient can easily take; and
• When medications require flavor additives to make them more palatable for some patients.

For additional information, visit the International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists’ Web site at www.iacprx.org and www.compoundingfacts.org.