Caravaggio IDA increases level of service with new compound lab

September 12, 2019 · 0 Comments

Written By BRIAN LOCKHART

Caravaggio IDA in Shelburne is taking its level of service up a notch with the addition of a new on-site compound lab in the pharmacy.

The lab will allow the pharmacy the ability to personalize medication.

In many cases when a medication is prescribed a physician can only prescribe a dose that is available on the market and try to get is a close to what a patient needs. Pharmaceutical companies typically produce a product that is the most commonly prescribed dose.

“This is a new way of thinking,” explained Caravaggio pharmacist / owner Margerit Bebawy. “Currently, if product ‘A’ is 20 milligrams and product ‘B’ is 50 milligrams, but what is best for the patient is 30 milligrams, then the doctor has to work with what is available on the market. Some pills you can split but not necessarily to the exact dose a patient requires.”

The compound lab will allow for creating a dose to meet the needs of the patient.

The pharmacy also specializes in providing topical creams that can be used to administer a drug directly to the area on the body where it is needed rather than taking a oral medication that will enter the entire body.

“A lot of medications you don’t want to take orally where you get a systemic effect”, Ms. Bebawy explained. “You can apply a topical to the area where you need it. Our most popular products are the pain cremes. For example, instead of taking codeine or morphine orally to help with that pain – where you get side effects and risk of addiction – I can put it in a cream base and it is applied to the area in pain and there is no systemic effect, no drowsiness, and no issues when you go to work. The point is, why put something into your system if you don’t have to?”

The topical creams are a big help for many different types of conditions that require pain relief as well as hormone replacement therapy.

The new lab will be the only compounding centre in the area.

The lab is being built to meet the requirements of pharmacy regulations and ensure a safe and clean work area.

Medicines are carefully mixed with a product that provides a suitable base – the cream – that works together to administer the dose to the patient.

The base determines how deep a medication will enter the body based on the patient’s condition.

Ms. Bebawy said the pharmacy is even looking ahead to creating ways to administer medicine in the form of lozenges, lollipops or liquid forms that will make it easier for kids who have difficulty swallowing pills.

The compound lab will provide local residents with the convenience of having an in-town facility that can provide this level of service.

“It’s a full service centre where anyone who comes in with something that they need and it’s not available on the market, we can make it,” Ms. Bebawy said. “We believe that this is the future of the pharmacy industry where it is a personalized approach rather than just a ‘what is on the market approach.’”