Compounded Medications
Cost and utilization of compounded medications among injured workers continues to increase. Challenge Used primarily for pain management, compounded medications contain either a single active drug in an inactive base or several active drugs. Compounded medications are prepared and dispensed by compounding pharmacies, which are licensed by the board of pharmacy in the state in which they are located, with limited FDA oversight. Compounded medications are not subject to the rigorous drug review process that all commercially available prescription drugs must undergo to demonstrate safety and effectiveness prior to FDA approval. Further, compounded medications generally do not have standardized dosages and duration for use, and the protocols for preparing each compound are not necessarily standardized. For all of these reasons, compounded preparations are likely to have batch-to-batch variability, and their sterility and purity cannot be guaranteed. Yet because of the time, effort and expertise necessary for pharmacists to create compounded products, their costs are often much higher than those of standard medications. - See more at: http://lab.express-scripts.com/drug-trend-report/workers-compensation/compounded-medications#sthash.Ao8IYXI6.dpuf
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