Prescription of compounded ophthalmic medications-a pharmacy perspective

Compounded ophthalmic products can be helpful for a small number of patients who cannot use a commercially available product or for whom no commercially available product exists. Extemporaneous preparation of medicines for the eye is considered complex compounding and is best undertaken by pharmacists with the appropriate facilities and equipment to ensure a sterile product. When dispensing, the pharmacist evaluates medication appropriateness, effectiveness and safety for each individual patient. For a compounded medicine, the pharmacist will also pay close attention to the formulation, physical, chemical and microbiological stability and utility of the preparation. Optometrists who are considering writing a prescription for any medicine will find that the pharmacist is a useful source of information regarding the availability of alternatives, stock outages and the availability or feasibility of a compounded product. Compounding can be a useful adjunct to the care of some patients and patient safety should always be paramount.