MEDICINESFlbMEN

Local pharmacists prefer to create medications

By DON SHILLING

VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR

Dan Wearsch makes an odd assortment of products in his West Side lab: nail polish, lollipops and dog treats.

The three appear to be vastly different, but they all have the same purpose — delivering medicine.

In addition to being a pharmacist, Wearsch is a compounder, meaning he creates medications in custom forms or doses.

The nail polish, for example, delivers anti-fungal medicine for diabetics who have liver problems and don’t tolerate pills well.

The lollipops come with nicotine for those who are trying to quit smoking.

And the dog treats can carry a variety of medicines for family pets.

Other local pharmacists prepare custom medications, but Wearsch is so committed to compounding that he closed his Medicine Shoppe pharmacy in July after operating the franchise for 16 years. He opened Youngstown Pharmacy Care in the same location at 2603 Mahoning Ave. and has dedicated himself to making medications.

Wearsch likened his new business to his days of helping out his father, who used to be a carpenter in Fremont, Ohio. At the end of the day, it was a good feeling to look at your work and realize you improved a house, he said.

“With compounding, there’s a reward knowing you made something that made a difference for someone or someone’s animal,” he said.

He’s not the only local pharmacist who has chosen to focus on compounding, however.

Ray Carlson opened RC Compounding, 3030 Center Road, Poland, in 2007 after more than 20 years of working as a pharmacist in area drugstores, hospitals and home-care companies.

He started his business after watching area doctors send orders for injectable medications to a company in Florida that prepared them. Carlson researched the work, decided he could do it locally and set up the “clean room” that’s needed to make injectable medications.

He started producing medicines for injections but has since expanded so that half of his business is in other types of drugs.

Carlson said he enjoys compounding because he has more time to talk with patients than he did in his previous positions.

“It’s much more satisfying than practicing regular retail pharmacy,” he said.

The Professional Compounding Centers of America, which supplies equipment and knowledge to compounders, has 3,500 independent pharmacists who are members. Only 250, however, limit their work to compounding, although that number is up by 10 in the past year.

“We’re definitely seeing an increase because of the demand from patients for personalized medication,” said Dagmar Climo, communications director for the Houston-based organization.

A customized medication makes a patient more likely to finish a prescription and obtain a good medical outcome, she said.

Compounders can add a flavor to a medication, create a customized dose and produce a cream or liquid to replace a pill. Carlson said alternatives to pills are handy for children who are too young to take pills, while Wearsch said he offers a pain reliever in a cream form that can be applied directly to an injury such as a sprained ankle.

Both pharmacists said a big part of their business is offering Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy.

This involves compounding medications that have the same structure as hormones produced by the body. They can be used by men but are most often prescribed for women who are going through menopause and dealing with problems such as cramps, weight gain or mood swings.

The pharmacists recommend their products instead of ones that are commercially available because they say they have more predictable effects on the body and can be dispensed in customized doses to meet a patient’s needs.

Because they are pharmacists, compounders don’t need a special license, but their medications still need to be prescribed by a doctor.

Carlson said he has relied on word-of-mouth to expand his business, but Wearth has two employees who are marketing his business. One is talking to doctors, mostly pediatricians, about compounding, while the other is talking to veterinarians. About half his business is compounding medications for animals.

The pharmacists said most of the medications they create are covered by insurance.

shilling@vindy.com