Wedgewood Pharmacy introduces Tiny Tabs: Smaller than a Tic-Tac, makes pilling easier

(Swedesboro NJ, January 21, 2008) Wedgewood Pharmacy has introduced Tiny Tabs™, a 6.25 mm-diameter, custom-compounded tablet dosage-form for “pilling” finicky pets who won’t cooperate and take their medicine in a treat form. The small size of Tiny Tabs makes it easier for pet owners to “pill” animals, especially with difficult-to-administer and bitter-tasting medications. Tiny Tabs are about one-half the size of a tic tac® breath mint and cost up to 70% less than other dosage forms, such as capsules.

Tiny Tabs are available exclusively from Wedgewood Pharmacy in frequently prescribed veterinary medications including Diethylstilbestrol (DES), often prescribed to treat urinary incontinence in spayed female dogs; Atenolol, often prescribed to control the heart rate of dogs and cats; Cisapride, often prescribed to treat gastric disorders in dogs and cats; and Metronidazole, often prescribed to treat protozoal and bacterial infections in dogs and cats.

Renee Lup, RPh, technical services pharmacist for Wedgewood Pharmacy noted, “We custom-compound medications in scores of flavors, from apple, through liver to tutti-frutti. Our custom-compounded Gourmeds™ chewable tablets, for example, are flavored with high-quality chicken and fish meals that provide the palatable, proven flavors in leading-brand pet foods. But some animals — especially cats — simply are picky, even when offered medicine in a ‘treat.’ That’s why we listened to prescribers’ requests for a smaller pill and formulated Tiny Tabs.”

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.