The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination
– TOMMY LASORDA
The story of pharmaceutical compounding cannot be told without the perseverance and ingenuity of men and women from the Empire State. Like many thriving industries of today, compounding grew post World War II and much of the work was taking place in New York. Part of this history is the lasting legacy of the Stella family.
Post-World War II, Frank Stella worked in an apothecary and created personalized medication for his community. In 1959, Rocco Stella opened a retail drug store in Canarsie, New York. Many years later, Christian Stella’s father, John Stella, expanded with several retail locations under the name Precision Pharmacy that still exist to this day… but the best was yet to come.
Christian Stella, a former stock boy at Precision Pharmacy followed his great-grandfather’s footsteps, choosing pharmaceutical compounding as his profession. His creativity, care and focus on quality were some of the traits that helped him build trusted relationships with patients and doctors within the community of Bellmore, NY.
The inciting incident in Christian’s career occurred when a Major League of Baseball (MLB) representative hinted at the possibility of developing innovative ways to heal common injuries for athletes. The multi-billion dollar operation that is the MLB, invited Christian to present the benefits of using pharmaceutical compounds before a room of sports trainers from every franchise in the league. Preparation met opportunity and Christian hit a homerun, wowing soon-to-be clients with personalized formulas that could help their players stay in the game.
“The proof is in the personalized medication – success has been tremendous and these compounds are helping world-class athletes eradicate conditions quickly and effectively,” said Christian Stella, adding, “one of our formulations for the NBA personnel consists of several coagulation agents for excessive bleeding – this cream is useful for a player when facial bleeding requires immediate attention. Another one of our formulations used by the NFL is for turf burns in which Copasil is also the coagulating agent. This cream consists of anesthetic agents that work synergistically with the Copasil base.”
Personalized compounds using MEDISCA’s Copasil skyrocketed. Physician scripts were being written across the country for team trainers ordering Christian’s compounded creams and ointments to treat their athletes’ scars, turf burns, bruises, muscle cramps and muscle soreness.
Due to Christian’s perseverance and ingenuity, sports medicine became a significant part of Precision Pharmacy’s business operations. This led to the creation of Pro Scripts, a division of Prescription Pharmacy. Today, Pro Scripts is a feature player in the competitive domain of professional sports medicine. Trusted partnerships between Pro Scripts and professional sports physicians strengthen with each high quality compounded preparation dispensed. For his part, Christian continues to carry the Stella’s pharmaceutical legacy and fulfill his destiny as one of the great compounders of his era.