Compounding pharmacy questions

[Carin]

For those of you who are in the US and use trilostane compounded in custom sizes, I have a couple of questions. First, I have been using Franck's for compounded trilo, and they're the pharmacy that's implicated in the deaths of those polo ponies. That doesn't make me distrust everything Franck's does, and Duncan's trilo has clearly been fine, but I do worry that they may be sued or cracked down upon by the FDA or otherwise put out of business by the time I next need to reorder Dunc's trilo. If anybody has a compounding pharmacy they'd especially recommend, I'd be very happy to have a recommendation.

Also, I gather that some compounding pharmacies will take trilo from existing large-dose capsules you already have and split it into smaller-dose capsules for you. If you have a recommendation of a pharmacy that you know is willing to do that, I'd love to have that recommendation, too. I have quite a supply of larger-dose capsules that I ordered from Masters in the UK before Dunc switched to a lower dose.

Thanks!

Carin

[lulusmom]

Hi Carin.

A number of us members use Diamondback Drugs in Scottsdale, AZ. I've purchased from them for the last three years and l have been very happy with their service. I originally purchased Trilostane from a local compounding pharmacy who was charging three times what Diamondback charges. They ship to anywhere in the U.S. I usually get my refills in two days.

www.diamondbackdrugs.com

Not all compounding pharmacies are willing to repackage for you so you'll probably have to call around.

Glynda

[zoesmom]

Carin -

I also use a compounding pharmacy in AZ called pethealthpharmacy.com. I found them to be the cheapest and their service is excellent. As far as quality, in Zoe I've noticed no difference between their compounded version and the vetoryl that I used to get from Master's in the UK. Have been using them for close to two years.

I order and pay online (they have a new rule where you must prepay over $100). But if under that amt., you can pay after it's received. Shipping is always $5-something and it comes in two or three days (to CA). However, if you are ordering for the first time, they want a hard copy of the rx. If you fax it or scan and e-mail it, you will lose time while they contact your vet to verify it.

That said, Zoe just recently needed an increase in dose (to 180 mg) so I got the new rx and snail mailed it to them. By mistake, they called my vet's office anyway to verify. Unfortunately, they were given the wrong info on Zoe's dose (they were told the old dose of 150 mg. ) So here came 3 mos. of 150 mg. caps instead of 180 mgs.

It took some complaining at both ends - the vets office and the pharmacy - to get things straightened out but I have to say . . . .pethealth was very cooperative. They said they couldn't take a return on the 150's but would send me 3 mos. worth of the add'l. 30 mg (see next paragraph) to combine with the 150's. They didn't charge me the full price for the add'l caps, but only the difference of what I would have paid for the 180's plus they shipped the add'ls. for free. It wasn't really their fault, but the vets office for verifying the wrong dose, so I was pleased that the pharmacy volunteered to do that.

The vetoryl has recently been approved in the US, in 30 and 60 mg strengths (I think that's right), so the pharmacies cannot sell those exact strengths anymore. So actually, what we got on this order was 27 mg, rather than 30 mg. Not a big deal - 3 mg. difference. And probably cheaper than what Dechra's 30 mg caps would have cost. Sue/Zoe

[Carin]

Thanks so much, Sue and Glynda. It's good to have some feedback so I have a list of options when it's time to reorder.

(I feel very lucky that Duncan is on such a tiny dose, because it makes the prescription SO much more affordable. He now gets 2 mg pills, twice a day, and I've been paying only about $15 a month for that, compared to multi-hundreds when we started out.)

[Rusty's Mom]

When I talked to Diamond Back in AZ about re-packaging the trilo the vet had gotten from them, they indicated it would cost just as much as a new order as the time to empty all the capsules, then measure and repackage would be considerable compared to just making up new capsules. I did not get an exact quote, but just made an inquiry. Of course, this was a new order (their cost to me, not through the vet).

Best of luck to you. I know the feeling of having too large of a dose of the pills.

MJ

[Zoe's Mom]

I use RoadRunner Pharmacy out of Arizona 877-518-4589 and have been very satisfied. I usually receive my shipments within 3 -4 days from ordering.