Now that you have a basic idea of the benefits of different hormones, what happens when you lack a certain amount of them, and the best kind of treatment you can get during the aging process, you might be wondering about how pharmacies regulate to get you what you need. There is a state and federal regulation for compounding pharmacies. As you know, compounding means the pharmacy makes customized medications to fit the specific individual needs of patients. The USP, or the United States Pharmacopeia, regulates compounding pharmacies on the federal level. State boards govern pharmacies at the state level, and while each state varies, they are mainly the ones that regulate your local pharmacy. The state will come to randomly visit the pharmacy sites to make sure the pharmacies are regulating by the proper standards of practice. The OSHA, or Occupational Safety Health Administration, provides the guidelines that make sure employees are safe and utilizing safe practices in the lab. This ensures that employees are protected from hazardous materials and other workplace dangers. In order for a prescription to be filled, many pharmacies require personal information, such as the prescriber’s name, address, phone number, and DEA number. On the other side, the patient’s name, address, date of birth, phone number, and date of issuance is needed to ensure proper handling of prescription filling. Specifics of the prescription itself are needed such as the type of medication, dose, dosage form, quantity, and refills. The specific instructions on how to use each prescription is needed and required on all controlled substances. Compounding pharmacies may not: compound commercial products, advertise individual prescription compounds or prices of compounds, compound medications without the prescriptions, sell compounded medications to other pharmacies, make claims on the effectiveness of compounds on certain patient groups, purchase raw material that is not approved by the FDA from other countries or from a non-FDA approved facility, or compound prescriptions from a provider’s office without proper patient information. After these regulations are set, you may be wondering who is authorized to write prescriptions in the first place. A practitioner who is authorized by the laws of the state to prescribe medication is allowed to write prescriptions. With this license they may write prescriptions, but may not abuse their powers by getting controlled substances for general dispensing. The licensed practitioner also may not write prescriptions in excess. Rules and regulations are set in a pharmacy to ensure that people on both sides are safe and getting the right treatment.

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