Some of the rules in the USA regarding compounding pharmacists are pretty
outrageous.  This week I found out I'm allergic to two of my allergy medicines
-- one has a dye and the "hypo-allergenic" formula (which shouldn't have to
exist) contains sorbitol.  Yet the FDA bars compounding pharmacists from
purchasing raw, bulk chemicals and compounding them into medicines -- the same
raw ingredients used to make the supposedly safe commercial pharmaceuticals.  
This keeps many of us from taking certain medications altogether or using them
as topicals for local problems.  Compounding pharmacists are forced to buy
commercial drugs and extract the active ingredients.  This is somehow "safer"
-- safer for those extracting rents through political control of the FDA.  For
example, a drug like finasteride might be useful as a topical for balding men,
but less so if it's tainted with dyes and solvent and costs a bundle to extract.

Strangely enough, this rule doesn't apply to veterinary compounders yet this is
who the FDA has targeted:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Pharmacy-Raid.html

Ky. Pharmacy Faces Illegal Drug Charges
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: August 17, 2004

Filed at 11:05 a.m. ET

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) -- The Food and Drug Administration has accused an equine
compounding pharmacy of illegally making and selling animal drugs.

Federal marshals last week raided BET Pharmacy, where they boxed up injectable
doses of drugs that aid horse reproduction and treat hoof diseases. The FDA
said the drugs could pose a health risk to horses.

BET said the seizure was unfounded and that the drugs it blends are safe and
legal under state law.

Compounding pharmacies blend bulk chemicals to fill prescriptions from licensed
veterinarians and physicians.

The federal agency says the pharmacy manufactured drugs from bulk sources that
didn't have FDA approval, made copies of existing approved drugs and sold to
veterinarians who had not prescribed the drugs for specific horses.

The agency sent a warning letter to BET after a November 2003 on-site
inspection, said Gloria Dunnavan, the FDA's director for the division of
compliance in the center for veterinary medicine.

The letter told the pharmacy that several injected forms of pregnancy-aiding
hormones were not approved by the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.  The
letter gave BET 15 days to fix the problems.

Last week, the FDA said the pharmacy ``was given an opportunity to correct the
violations but failed to take appropriate actions.''

Steve Atwood, an attorney for BET, said there are no FDA statutes that he could
find stating BET could not compound drugs from bulk sources.

The bulk drugs from which all of BET's drugs are made were approved by the
National Formulary and the U.S. Pharmacopoeia, Atwood said.

After the warning in 2003 and another in April 2004, BET continued compounding
the drugs because the company thought it was obeying state law, Atwood said.

State officials wouldn't address the case directly, other than to say a joint
investigation by state and federal officials was pending.

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Information from: Lexington Herald-Leader, http://www.kentucky.com