With the opening of two new compounding pharmacies this summer—one on Hwy. 290 in Jersey Village and one on Huffmeister Road—there are now several locally owned compounding facilities operating in the Cy-Fair area.

Pharmaceutical compounding involves combining, mixing or altering ingredients to create a medication to fit the distinct needs of an individual patient.

"We have a consultation center where we sit down with the patients and talk to them about what they need," said Christine Coon, owner of the new Jersey Village Compounding Pharmacy on Hwy. 290. "This is what pharmacy used to be. No matter what it is a customer needs, we can help them out."

Compounding pharmacies can provide medications for people looking to adjust dosage strength, formulation or to remove ingredients due to allergies, among other needs, Coon said.

"We don't make decisions by ourselves; we work with a physician," she said.

Although it is legal for a licensed pharmacist to engage in pharmaceutical compounding, the concept is under scrutiny from the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA warns that poor compounding practices can result in contamination or in medications that do not possess the strength, quality and purity required.

"Consumers need to be aware that compounded medications are not FDA-approved," wrote Kathleen Anderson, acting director of the Office of Unapproved Drugs and Labeling Compliance. "This means the FDA has not verified their quality, safety and effectiveness."

A bill proposed by the FDA in September would give the agency the power to monitor compounding pharmacies in the same way it regulates drug-makers, including through inspections. The bill would launch a tracing system that would track prescription drugs from manufacturing to distribution.

Under the new system, federal regulators would be able to track what the compounding pharmacies are making, receive reports about problems with any of the compounded drugs and have the authority to conduct safety inspections.