When a spoonful of sugar doesn’t make the medicine go down, parents now have another option — personalized, or custom-compounded, medicines.

Pharmacist Scott Wepfer, owner of The Compounding Shoppe in Homewood, has a number of specialized things he can do to make medicine go down easier for children. For example, some medicines are only available as tablets or capsules which many younger children can’t take. “We can make oral suspension doses which make it easier for kids to take the medicine,” Wepfer says.  Common examples include Omeprazole and Bethanachol suspensions.

Another medicine he frequently compounds is Ranitidine suspension. “The commercially available form tastes so horrible that children won’t take it,” he says. “We not only make it taste great, but our formula is also alcohol-free and the kids can even pick the flavor they want.”

Custom compounding of Promethazine makes both children and their parents happy. Young children don’t do well taking tablets and nausea can make it even worse. “Typically, the only other option is a suppository, but we make a transdermal gel that is applied to the child’s wrist. Parents love it,” says Wepfer.  Other medications that can be delivered in this way include Acetaminophen, Hydrocodone, Ibuprofen and Lorazepam.

Making correct dosing easy for parents is another of Wepfer’s objectives. With oral liquids, for instance, an adapter is inserted into each bottle that allows the parents to draw the medication up into an oral syringe for more exact dosing. “We want to be sure the child gets the correct dose,” he adds.

 “Not only do we dispense quality, custom-made medicines, it is also our policy to counsel parents on every new medication they get for their children,” Wepfer says. “We want to make sure that they understand how to properly use the oral syringe system for proper dosing as well as any other important information about the medication and we want to answer any questions they may have.”


Caption: Scott Wepfer, The Compounding Shoppe


August 2008