Compounded meds save San Francisco whales

Pharmacy had a hand in saving the two humpback whales stranded in a tributary to the San Francisco Bay. The whales were given compounded antibiotics to protect against infections. The whales had traveled into the San Francisco Bay and up the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta near Rio Vista, Calif., and had sustained injuries that were not able to heal as quickly in the fresh water river. Marine biologists and veterinarians used a special tool to inject the antibiotics into both the calf and its mother. The drugs were provided by the animal divisions of Bayer and of Pfizer and were compounded into a special formulization by Grandpa's Compounding Pharmacy of Placerville, Calif. After more than a week in the river, the whales, nicknamed Delta and Dawn, are believed to have turned around and returned to the Pacific Ocean.

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