Looking back over 2004 it is amazing at the changes in the quality of compounding that have occurred. USP standards for nonsterile (USP Chapter <795>) and sterile (USP Chapter <797>) have made a definite impact on our profession. No longer is compounding just �throwing a few things together� but is becoming more and more scientifically based; which is the way we were taught and the way it should be in practice. Compounding areas in all practice sites (community pharmacy, hospital pharmacy, home healthcare, etc.) are being upgraded and equipment is being purchased by most compounding pharmacists to do the job correctly.

PCAB is well on its way to having an impact on community pharmacy compounding facilities and JCAHCO is implementing pharmacy compounding accreditation standards for health care organizations.

The Pharmacists Pharmacopeia (actual name to be decided soon) is under development by USP and should be available this spring (it has been ten years in the making so a few more months shouldn�t matter). This will enable pharmacists to have their own official book of standards without all the industrial/manufacturing information.

Suppliers of pharmaceutical grade (USP, NF, BP, etc.) chemicals, materials, equipment, etc. are expanding and serving the profession well. Pharmacy compounding support companies are providing assistance in physical facilities, laboratory testing, consulting and other vital activities.

One ongoing problem however is that information to support pharmacy compounding is �here and there and everywhere� and requires effort and time to obtain. Our goal at IJPC is to continue what we have initiated this year in providing to you whatever information you will need to compound quality preparations. We hope that CompoundingToday.com will ultimately be your �Information Central� for data and information that will be accessible from anywhere in the world.

Thank you for your support over the years and we look forward to continuing our trip together.

USP is currently developing an annual hard copy reference publication for practicing pharmacists and would like your input in helping to shape the content of this publication. To participate in a brief electronic survey, which should take no more than 20 minutes to complete, please visit http://www.usp.org/survey/SM/P2GC

There are 94 SOPs on CompoundingToday.com that can be downloaded and customized for your pharmacy practice. Here is the current list. More are being added every week.

The theme this week is general reviews/position statements on HRT (post-WHI) and specific treatments for menopause symptoms. In the coming weeks CT.COM will be adding many abstracts related to this topic as well as abstracts dealing with osteoporosis and alternatives to HRT in menopause.

• Albertazzi P, Bottazzi M, Purdie DW. Gabapentin for the management of hot flushes: a case series. Menopause 2003; 10(3): 214-217.
• American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Women's Health Care Physicians. ACOG practice bulletin. Clinical management guidelines for obstetrician-gynecologists. Number 50, January 2003 [Hormone replacement therapy]. Obstet Gynecol 2004; 103(1): 203-216 [No abstract available].
• Archer DF; EstroGel Study Group. Percutaneous 17beta-estradiol gel for the treatment of vasomotor symptoms in postmenopausal women. Menopause 2003; 10(6): 516-521.
• Boothby LA, Doering PL, Kipersztok S. Bioidentical hormone therapy: A review. Menopause 2004; 11(3): 356-367.
• Burger H. Hormone replacement therapy in the post-Women's Health Initiative era. Report a a meeting held in Funchal, Madeira, February 24-25, 2003. Climacteric 2003; 6 Suppl 1: 11-36.
• Deady J. Clinical monograph: Hormone replacement therapy. J Manag Care Pharm 2004; 10(1): 85-86.
• Bhatt R, Whittaker KW, Appaswamy S, Desai A, Fitt A, Sandramouli S. Prospective survey of adverse reactions to topical antiglaucoma medications in a hospital population. Eye 2004;
• Ficicioglu C, Gurbuz B, Tasdemir S, Yalti S, Canova H. High local endometrial effect of vaginal progesterone gel. Gynecol Endocrinol 2004; 18(5): 240-243.
• Flynn CA. Calcium supplementation in postmenopausal women. Am Fam Phys 2004; 69(12): 2822-2823.
• Guttuso T Jr. Hot flashes refractory to HRT and SSRI therapy but responsive to gabapentin therapy. J Pain Symptom Manage 2004; 27(3): 274-276.
• Haskell SG. After the Women's Health Initiative: Postmenopausal women's experiences with discontinuing estrogen replacement therapy. J Womens Health (Larchmt) 2004; 13(4): 438-442.
• Kaplan B, Aschkenazi-Steinberg S, Yogev Y, Nahum R, Sulkes J, Phisher M. Gynecologists' trends and attitudes toward prescribing hormone replacement therapy during menopause. Menopause 2002; 9(5): 354-359.
• Keenan NL, Mark S, Fugh-Berman A, Browne D, Kaczmarczyk J, Hunter C. Severity of menopausal symptoms and use of both conventional and complementary/alternative therapies. Menopause 2003; 10(6): 507-515.
• Mircioiu C, Perju A, Griu E, Calin G, Neagu A, Enachescu D, Miron DS. Pharmacokinetics of progesterone in postmenopausal women: 2. Pharmacokinetics following percutaneous administration. Eur J Drug Metab Pharmacokinet 1998; 23(3): 397-402.
• Mircioiu C, Perju A, Neagu A, Griu E, Calin G, Miron DS. Pharmacokinetics of progesterone in postmenopausal women: 1. Pharmacokinetics following intravaginal administration. Eur J Drug Metab Pharmacokinet 1998; 23(3): 391-396.
• Modelska K, Cummings S. Female sexual dysfunction in postmenopausal women: Systematic review of placebo-controlled trials. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2003; 188(1): 286-293.
• Na N. Recommendations for estrogen and progestogen use in peri-and postmenopausal women: October 2004 position statement of The North American Menopause Society. Menopause 2004; 11(6): 589-600.
• Nappi C, Di Spiezio Sardo A, Guerra G, Di Carlo C, Bifulco G, Acunzo G, Sammartino A, Galli V. Comparison of intranasal and transdermal estradiol on nasal mucosa in postmenopausal women. Menopause 2004; 11(4): 447-455.
• North American Menopause Society. The role of calcium in peri- and postmenopausal women: Consensus opinion of The North American Menopause Society. Menopause 2001; 8(2): 84-95.
• North American Menopause Society. Treatment of menopause-associated vasomotor symptoms: Position statement of The North American Menopause Society. Menopause 2004; 11(1): 11-33.
• Nothnagle M, Taylor JS. Vaginal estrogen preparations for relief of atrophic vaginitis. Am Fam Physician 2004; 69(9): 2111-2112.
• Odmark IS, Backstrom T, Jonsson B, Bixo M. Long-term effects of two different continuous combined regimens of hormone replacement therapy on well-being. Gynecol Endocrinol 2004; 18(6): 305-317.
• Ohsfeldt RL, Gavin NI, Thorp JM. Medical care costs associated with postmenopausal estrogen plus progestogen therapy. Value Health 2004; 7(5): 544-553.
• Shanafelt TD, Barton DL, Adjei AA, Loprinzi CL. Pathophysiology and treatment of hot flashes. Mayo Clin Proc 2002; 77(11): 1207-1218. [Erratum in Mayo Clin Proc 2004; 79(8): 1088.]
• Shulman LP. The menopausal transition: how does route of delivery affect the risk/benefit ratio of hormone therapy? J Fam Pract 2004; Suppl: S13-17.
• Skouby SO, Barlow D, Samsioe G, Gompel A, Pines A, Al-Azzawi F, Graziottin A, Hudita D, Rozenberg S; European Menopause and Andropause Society (EMAS). Climacteric medicine: European Menopause and Andropause Society (EMAS) statements on postmenopausal hormonal therapy. Maturitas 2004; 48(1): 19-25.
• Smith NL, Heckbert SR, Lemaitre RN, Reiner AP, Lumley T, Weiss NS, Larson EB, Rosendaal FR, Psaty BM. Esterified estrogens and conjugated equine estrogens and the risk of venous thrombosis. JAMA 2004; 292(13): 1581-1587.
• Swegle JM, Kelly MW. Tibolone: A unique version of hormone replacement therapy. Ann Pharmacother 2004; 38(5): 874-881.
• Takiya L, Umland E. MenoPAUSE: Taking a second look at the role of HRT. J Am Pharm Assoc (Wash DC) 2003; 43(5 Suppl 1): S34-35.
• Varner RE. Menopausal hormone replacement therapy. Curr Womens Health Rep 2003; 3(5): 410-417.
• Wren BG. Do female sex hormones initiate breast cancer? A review of the evidence. Climacteric 2004; 7(2): 120-128.
• Wren BG, Brown LB. A double-blind trial with clonidine and a placebo to treat hot flushes. Med J Aust 1986; 144(7): 369-370.
• Wren BG, Champion SM, Willetts K, Manga RZ, Eden JA. Transdermal progesterone and its effect on vasomotor symptoms, blood lipid levels, bone metabolic markers, moods, and quality of life for postmenopausal women. Menopause 2003; 10(1): 13-18.
• Wren BG, Day RO, McLachlan AJ, Williams KM. Pharmacokinetics of estradiol, progesterone, testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone after transbuccal administration to postmenopausal women. Climacteric 2003; 6(2): 104-111.

BEAUFORT -- Burke's Main Street Pharmacy has denied the major allegations in a lawsuit brought by a Hilton Head Island man who says he suffered permanent brain damage from a medication mix-up. The pharmacy agrees that it compounded and dispensed the prescription pain medication in February to the 43-year-old plaintiff, Christopher M. O'Leary, according to an answer filed Nov. 23. It also concedes that a doctor who was treating O'Leary contacted pharmacist David Burke with concerns about the medication, but it denied that Burke gave any assurances about it.

For full story,http://www.islandpacket.com/news/briefs/story/4273067p-4068099c.html

Last year, Americans filled more than 3.2 billion orders for prescription medications, spending more than 203 billion dollars. Many of those prescriptions are for children. Children are not simply small adults. They may have some unique medical needs and require different types or doses.

For full story,http://www.hoinews.com/news/features/4/1101482.html

EPS® Steri-Dropper™ Bottles
EPS®, Inc. is pleased to announce our line of Steri-Dropper™ bottles. It�s yet another enhancement to our extensive array of bottles and containers. Steri-Dropper™ was designed for the extemporaneous packaging of sterile ophthalmic solutions. It consists of 3, 7 and 15 ml polyethylene vials, manufactured from a special zinc stearate-free resin. This special plastic minimizes the risk of particulate forming in solution with certain ophthalmic preparations. We package the bottles, tips and caps in blisters of 2�s rather than 12�s or 20�s so that you can just prepare whatever you need. You don�t need to expose or use 12 or 20 bottles when you only need to make a couple of solutions! For samples, to order or for more information, please contact us at EPS®, INC

E-mail :    info@medidose.com
Website : www.medidose.com.