PUB-007 / v2.0
Choosing a dosage form
Select dosage form consistently with prescribing and actual administration needs. Changing route or release type is not a simple technical adjustment.
Clinical question and dosage form
Assessment starts with the patient, route, required dose and available authorised product. Document swallowing difficulty, device use, age-related excipient restrictions and allergies. Another dosage form may meet the need, but the change requires formulation, dose-delivery and clinical-suitability evidence. Sharing an active ingredient alone does not establish therapeutic equivalence.
Exact formulation and controlled process
A formulation’s identity includes active chemical form, concentration, excipients, water, preservatives and starting products. Changing a salt, base or tablet type is not merely a naming change. The process specifies addition order, mixing, thermal stages and final volume or mass. The laboratory establishes that its equipment can achieve those conditions.
Tests that answer the question
Appearance identifies some failures but does not establish strength, absence of degradants or microbiological suitability. Select method and criterion for the actual dosage form and use. A suspension needs redispersibility and device-delivered-dose assessment; at low strength, uniform mass does not imply uniform API. A critical specification failure requires quarantine and investigation.
Safe handover and learning
Handover links the correct patient, preparation, strength, route and dosing device. Assess understanding through demonstration and teach-back. Investigate complaints or failures using evidence rather than automatically assigning one mechanism. CAPA includes an owner, deadline and effectiveness check so the finding produces a concrete improvement.
Enteral and parenteral administration
Administration through a feeding tube is enteral. It needs tube, occlusion, interaction and actual-dose assessment. Parenteral administration is a different scope requiring sterile preparation and is outside this nonsterile system.
Sources and references
- NAPRA — Model Standards for Pharmacy Compounding of Non-sterile PreparationsMarch 2018, clarification January 2022Sections 4–9Risk, personnel, facilities and QA; its historical BUD table is not used for current USP defaults2026-09-12
- NAPRA — Guidance Document for Pharmacy Compounding of Non-sterile PreparationsMarch 2018, clarification January 2022Sections 5, 6 and 7; master/batch records, delivery, qualityQuality-system implementation; historical BUD table not substituted for 2022 USP revision2026-09-12
- PIC/S — Guide to Good Practices for the Preparation of Medicinal Products in Healthcare EstablishmentsPE 010-4, 1 March 2014Chapters 1–9; Annex 2 (nonsterile liquids, creams, ointments)Professional quality-system framework; not automatic national legal adoption or certification2026-09-12