Compounded Oxycodone Capsules With No Imprinting

MD Says:
Mon, Jun 01 '15, 5:22 AM via mobile

I was given a blue and white capsule with white powder in it with NO IMPRINTING AT ALL on it and said it was a 30mg oxycodone. Is this possible?? Can a compounding pharmacy do this?

caraph Says:
Mon, Jun 01 '15, 9:50 PM
Short answer: Yes, as long as the physician prescribed and there is a specific need for it to be compounded.

That being said...I would be very cautious and inquire as to WHY they are compounding 30mg oxy as capsules instead of using the commercially produced tablets.

I myself am a pharmacist and do many different types of compounding- mostly in the pain sector. and the only time I compound oxycodone is to combine it with either something for nausea (common side effect) or low dose ibuprofen or acetaminophen, or in combo with something to reduce/prevent constipation. I NEVER have compounded it by itself. There is just too much risk for abuse.

As for the capsule: when we purchase large qty of colored capsules to compound-- they have no imprints but we rely on the color combination and size to assign to a specific compounded formulation-- that is actually very common in the industry.

Again I would inquire as to why the physician and pharmacy chose to compound this. To me-- as a pharmacist and compounding pharmacy owner-- this seems a bit out of the norm.