Click the video above to see how the horse shoe crab is used in the detection of bacterial endotoxins, as well as the technology and procedures that Hartley Medical employs to detect these pyrogens in compounded sterile products.

Healthcare providers should make pain control a higher priority for their patients with mesothelioma and other lung-related cancers.

 

That is the message of a recent University of Pennsylvania study on pain management.  The study gathered information on pain and pain control from patients with mesothelioma or lung cancer between 2005 and 2008. Participants were asked to fill out an Internet-based questionnaire that included 22 questions designed to assess their symptoms, evaluate their pain, and appraise their attitudes toward pain medication.

 

Of the ninety people who filled out the survey, nine percent had mesothelioma, a rare cancer of the lining of the chest or abdominal cavity.  The other 91 percent had either small-cell or non-small-cell lung cancer. Most were men and 89 percent were Caucasian.  Almost half of the survey respondents had undergone surgery for their mesothelioma or lung cancer, 58 percent were treated with chemotherapy and 44 percent had had radiotherapy.

Click here to read the full article.

compounding staff, active air sampling for microbial content, surface microbial testing, in-house HPLC quantitative analysis potency testing, and sterility and endotoxin testing per USP. Hartley Medical dedicates more than $100,000 annually to quality assurance testing.

Congress addresses how U.S. healthcare providers have been inadequately educated to properly assess, diagnose, and manage chronic pain. Preparing frontline practitioners to provide more effective pain management is the overarching mission of PAINWeek, now the largest national conference on pain.

 

Montclair, NJ (PRWEB) February 18, 2012

Expert testimony heard this week during the first congressional hearing ever held on chronic pain and pain management reaffirms the importance of PAINWeek in addressing this critical public health concern.

 

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) chaired the meeting of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions to draw attention to what he called an "epidemic" of chronic pain. Harkin stated his belief that the nation's doctors are being poorly prepared to deal with the challenges of treating chronic pain, and asked "How do we educate our doctors to understand this and make the right kind of diagnosis?"

 

  To read the full article, click here. 

 

In light of the recent drug shortage crisis plaguing the medical world, many hospitals, physicians, and traditional pharmacies (both in and out of hospital settings) are outsourcing to compounding pharmacies. It is evident that compounding pharmacies can help alleviate the current problem ... but it is important to note that selecting just any compounding pharmacy will not suffice.

 

"Properly trained and equipped compounding pharmacies can provide physicians and patients access to these much-needed medications. Often times, compounding pharmacies are able to still acquire the active ingredients of the discontinued or backordered medications. It is, however, important to select the proper compounding pharmacy. A compounding pharmacy accredited by PCAB (Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation Board) is often the best choice." [1] 

- MDNews.com, March 30^th 2012

 

Hartley Medical is a PCAB-Accredited pharmacy headquartered in Long Beach, CA. We currently provide drug shortage services to a number of physicians and organizations - but our experience teaches us that health systems can benefit from utilizing compounding pharmacies' services beyond solely emergency situations.

 

According to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists' (ASHP) Guidelines on Outsourcing Compounding Services [2], there are certain reasons to, and not to, outsource to compounding pharmacies; and only after a careful internal assessment of its needs and capabilities should a health system decide to outsource sterile compounding. Traditionally, however, health systems should outsource to compounding pharmacies to:

 

• provide consistent pharmacy and sterile compounding services, including documented beyond-use dating;
• resolve operational inefficiencies in areas such as batch compounding, or to ease consolidation of pharmaceutical services during high-demand periods;
• allow their systems to reach optimal staffing levels to achieve productivity targets;
• minimize the cost of facility remodeling to meet USP 797 requirements;
• control or reduce the cost of the organization's services by shifting costs associated with IV admixture production from fixed to variable;
• and to reduce and/or control labor costs by shifting responsibility for employees, benefits, and liabilities to a compounding pharmacy.

 

As with the drug shortage dilemma, it is important to select the proper compounding pharmacy because all compounding pharmacies are not the same. It is no longer sufficient for pharmacies simply to meet standards; they must exceed standards.

 

According to ASHP, compounding pharmacies should allow an organization's representatives to visit their compounding facilities. 

 

"The compounding pharmacy should provide ample opportunity for the organization's representatives to confer with the compounding pharmacy's corporate, pharmacy, and compounding staff."            

- ASHP, Jan. 14^th, 2010

 

 

We operate at the highest of quality standards and exceed USP 797 guidelines on a daily basis. Our door is always open.

 

We urge you to fully read ASHP's Guidelines on Outsourcing Compounding Services.

 

Or read 4 Steps to Choosing the Right Compounding Pharmacy - William's notations on choosing the right compounding pharmacy.

 

 

Hartley Medical is the nation's leading provider of the highest quality sterile pharmaceuticals for intra-spinal, infusion therapy patients. Our world-class pharmacy is exclusively dedicated to the custom compounding of medications for the treatment of pain and movement disorders.

 

Owned and directed by William A. Stuart, RPh - acknowledged pioneer in the field of pharmaceutical sterile compounding - Hartley, prior to its national expansion, established itself as one of the most successful and professionally distinguished pharmacies in the state of California. 

 

We now serve over 400 leading pain physicians and premier health care institutions across the nation.  

 

Visit our Web site at www.hartleymedical.com