Compounding Pharmacies & Chelation Therapy

Health management organizations and cost control are constantly looking for new ways to reduce the cost of pharmaceuticals provided to patients. However, generic pharmaceuticals and big brand chemicals do not solve every medical issue. Pharmaceutical compounding is gaining ground for specific treatments, and chelation therapy is one of those areas.

Compounding is the pharmacy service of custom-mixing various drugs to provide a specific medical treatment per a doctor's prescription. Chelation therapy is a treatment for heavy metal exposure and poisoning.

Background

• In the early days of medical treatment, pharmacists did exactly this process of mixing on a regular basis. However, in modern times much of the mixing is done by pharmaceutical producers, and the pharmacist's role is being reduced to being a control agent over distribution and double-checking that the right drug matches a doctor's prescription.

  Chelation therapy is the process of removing heavy metals from the body. It was first developed as a medical treatment during World War I as a response to gas weapons being introduced.

How it Works

• Modern compounding is still initiated by your doctor visit and a doctor's prescription. Doctors who are familiar with the properties of specific compounds assign the treatment in case categories they know and understand. The patient then takes the prescription to specific pharmacists who provide compounding services. The pharmacist pulls the base drugs and compounds, prepares them in the proper mixture, and then distributes the right amount for treatment to the patient with instructions for use. With the doctor's approval and pharmacist's check the cost is then addressed by the patient's medical insurance and co-pay if required.

  Compounding is the only way to receive some chelation-therapy medicines available. Due to Federal Trade Commission scrutiny, many standard manufacturers who originally produced chelation therapy drugs have left the business entirely. This leaves pharmacies that manually manufacture the materials as the only remaining source.

Problems: Federal Trade Commission

• Some experts have recommended the use of chelation therapy for medical issues such as autism or atherosclerosis, but the treatment has been hampered by an ongoing controversy as to whether it is effective medically. In 1998, the Federal Trade Commission investigated some chelation therapy providers and shut down their marketing programs for being unsubstantiated.

Problems: Side Effects

• There are also issues with undesired reactions. Side effects of chelation therapy, depending on the dosage provided, have shown negative effects on mental performance. In a few cases people, particularly children, have died from inappropriate levels of treatment associated with medical error (see the Medscape Journal citation at the bottom of this article).

Conclusion

• Compounded chelation therapy products should be approached with caution. There is no agreement in the medical community on their effectiveness or safety. Further, prescribed amounts distributed to patients and lacking usage detail leave room for human and medical error in application, which can lead to medical reactions and problems. Patients considering chelation therapy, particularly through compounding, should research carefully all possibilities before beginning treatment.