Wedgewood Pharmacy compounds thyroid tablets during manufacturer backorder of Armour Thyroid tablets

(Swedesboro NJ, November 5, 2009) Wedgewood Pharmacy announced today that it is compounding thyroid tablets in response to physician demand during the long-term backorder of Forest Laboratories’ Armour Thyroid tablets. Compounded using Thyroid USP powder, a naturally occurring thyroid, Wedgewood Pharmacy’s scored tablets are available by prescription in 15mg, 30mg, 60mg and 120mg, with prices ranging from $21 to $25 per 100-count bottle. Thyroid tablets may be prescribed by physicians to treat hypothyroidism.

Beth DeSouza, human health product manager for Wedgewood Pharmacy said, “When commercially available medications go on long-term backorder, compounding pharmacies can help ensure that patients’ prescribed treatment regimens continue uninterrupted. Being able to fill a void during a manufacturer backorder is just one of the reasons why compounding pharmacies are a vital component of the healthcare system.”

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.