Merely hearing the word "compounding" may bring up memories of a news story that greatly affected horsemen everywhere. A simple mistake in placement of a decimal point when formulating a compounded supplement led to the deaths of 21 polo ponies in Florida.
What exactly is compounding? Compounding is changing a drug in any way. This could range from adding flavoring so your horse will eat his medications, all the way to combining medications into one delivery system, or as in the Florida case, creating a whole new medication or supplement from separate raw ingredients.
There are times when compounding can be extremely helpful. Flavoring a medication for a finicky horse or taking a pill medication and turning it into a paste for delivery can mean the difference between your horse getting the medication he needs or not. Every adjustment has the potential to change how the drug works, however.
The Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, regulates drug compounding for veterinary medicine, as do state governments. In addition, state boards of pharmacy and state veterinary medical boards have rules and regulations that must be followed.
What are compounded drugs?
First, what aren't they? Compounded drugs are not "generic" drugs. Generic drugs have the same primary ingredients as name brand drugs but without the name brand behind them. Just like name brand drugs, a generic has to be tested, shown to be safe and effective, and the FDA oversees the entire manufacturing process.
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