How is compounding distinct from manufacturing?
• What constitutes compounding in bulk? • If compounded products need not meet the requirements of the NHP Regulations, how will the safety and efficacy of these products be assured? What is compounding?After considerable discussion and with reference to the policy discussion paper that had been distributed to the participants prior to the consultation, the participants concluded that compounding can be described as a process whereby a health care practitioner or their delegate mixes, prepares or processes health products (natural, medicinal, etc.) in a vehicle (cream, lotion, gel, drops, capsules, etc.) to precise specifications and tailored to a particular patient’s needs. A health care practitioner will compound products rather than use already manufactured products in order to provide products that might: • be unavailable or not readily available; • be free of preservatives, dyes and/or chemical allergens; • have strengths that vary from readily available commercial products; and/o
