MILL CREEK — Compounding pharmacist Michael Jones is at your service.
For patients who can’t or prefer not to swallow prescription pills, Jones can change the form of their medicine into a patch. For pediatric patients, he’ll add flavors to medications or offer anesthetic lollipops to avoid needles and IVs. And for pets, Jones has a capsule made especially for cats.
Jones offers precise dosages no matter the size and uses ingredients to minimize negative side effects.
“The underlying thing about our business is customer service,” he said.
He works with patients to be reimbursed by insurance companies for their medications. To control costs, Jones encourages patients to purchase medications in bulk as labor costs contribute to inflated prescription prices.
“There’s a market to let people know what we’re capable of,” Jones said. “People may think it’s very expensive to have a prescription compounded but that’s not always so.”
Three months ago, Jones opened NorthWest Pharmaceutical Compounding Inc., 15021 Main St., in the Mill Creek Town Center.
Jones prescribes small-town personal service for customers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days per year. He hopes to expand his team of four employees and become a regional provider. On staff is a cosmetologist who offers free skin analyses by appointment.
“I think it’s the world’s most honorable profession and I’m a specialist in that profession,” he said.
Through compounding, Jones can create a custom dosage that isn’t mass produced. Recently, he created a 50 mg pill for a woman because the lowest dosage being manufactured was 250 mg. He also creates “orphan” drugs that large companies avoid making because they’re considered too expensive.
“I make sure each dosage is specially fine tuned per patient,” he said. “I like to do things out of the box.”
Jones can alter medications to be administered through sprays, pumps, powders, lip balms and lollipops. Next he’s working on providing eye medications via injections. He purchases ingredients from three U.S. wholesalers.
Compounding typically draws parents who have infants and children requiring doses that are smaller than what is mass produced.
The specialty saw resurgence within the last 10 years as more people started needing hormone replacement therapy. Through compounding, patients can take a lower dose of hormones which will lower health risks such as cancer and ensure the body will respond to the drugs.
“It’s like a key to a lock,” he said.
He also buys equipment and supplies locally to support small businesses. Jones is also organizing seminars for the community to ask questions and gather information from a naturopath, veterinarian and urologist so patients can avoid paying for an office fee. His business offers a library from which customers can borrow books to learn more about therapy and nutrition.
“We’re an information resource,” he said.
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