hans_munich said:They are two different exemptions from the same federal requirements and they buy different things.
FDA inspection results for compounding pharmacies selling compounded supply: you can look up any 503B facility's FDA inspection history on the FDA website.
Check for: Form 483 observations (violations), warning letters, and recall history. A clean inspection record is a strong indicator of quality. My pharmacy has had 1 Form 483 observations in their last 2 inspections.
This is public information. Use it. Link: fda.gov/inspections-compliance-enforcement-and-criminal-investigations
Following on from PharmD_Rodriguez — and this may be the naive question:
What actually distinguishes 503A from 503B, in terms of what each may make and from what starting material?
TrialTracker_MD said:FDA inspection results for compounding pharmacies selling compounded supply: you can look up any 503B facility's FDA inspection history on the FDA…
Compounding pharmacy response time test for compounded supply: I email customer service at odd hours to test responsiveness. A pharmacy that can't answer questions promptly is a red flag.
My current pharmacy: average response time 2 hours. They answered my questions about storage conditions thoroughly and professionally.
Communication quality is a proxy for operational quality. A pharmacy that communicates well is likely manufacturing well too.
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The bulks-list asymmetry was the piece I had missed entirely. It explains why one of my two pharmacies is still arguing it can supply and the other simply stopped.
NurseLeah_Nash said:Compounding pharmacy response time test for compounded supply: I email customer service at odd hours to test responsiveness.
No disagreement with NurseLeah_Nash. One condition attached. Worth adding the genuine exception, because it is real and narrow: a change made for an identified patient where the prescriber determines it produces a significant clinical difference for that patient. A grid of fixed doses offered to everybody is not that, whatever the intake form says.