10 Steps to Develop and Implement a Pharmaceutical Waste Management Program

Step 7. Taking on the Communication/Labeling Challenge

Next, we need to select a method for communicating the collected information to pharmacy and nursing staff; this may involve one or two systems:

1. Drugs discarded in the pharmacy and
2. Drugs discarded in the nursing units.

One also needs to allow for incorporating additional drugs in the system over time.

Other discussions in this step include:

1. Automating the Labeling Process
   1. Incorporating Disposition Data in Dispensing Software
   2. Inserting Disposition Data on Barcodes
2. Manually Labeling in the Pharmacy
3. Providing Guidance on the Nursing Units
4. Selecting a Message for the Label

An example of sample text label messages and the type of waste they refer to is provided in the following table of examples:

For the complete document, go to:
http://www.hercenter.org/hazmat/tenstepblueprint.pdf

News

Just Released-NASEM Project on Compounded Pain Creams
The FDA-funded NASEM project "Compounded Topical Pain Creams: Review of Select Ingredients for Safety, Effectiveness, and Use (2020)" has been completed and is available at:

http://nap.edu/25689 (Free download)

It is a 352-page document. There will be more to come in this newsletter later but here are the "Four Recommendations"; there are short discussions under each in the document.

RECOMMENDATION REGARDING TREATMENT
Recommendation 1: Caution should be used when prescribing or dispensing compounded topical pain cream preparations.

RECOMMENDATIONS TO ADDRESS PUBLIC HEALTH CONCERNS
Recommendation 2: Strengthen and expand the evidence based on the safety and effectiveness of active pharmaceutical ingredients and excipients commonly used in compounded topical pain creams.

Recommendation 3: Require continued training for clinicians who prescribe compounded pain medication, particularly pain management specialists. Revise current educational requirements for compounding pharmacists and non-pharmacists who compound. [Emphasis added]

Recommendation 4: Additional state-level oversight of compounded topical pain creams is needed to improve safety and effectiveness.

Did You Know ...

that "A goal without a plan and hard work is just a wish?"

Tip of the Week

How many times have we had what we thought was a great idea...even a grandiose idea...that was going to have a big impact on our lives, our business, our neighborhoods, or even our state/nation? We think about it and even bask in the possibilities of what we can do and how others will think we are really something! But...if we don't "plan the work and work the plan," it fizzles, and we can only think of what could have been. Therefore, since we did not follow up and commit to it, our goal became only a "wish."

We leave with two thoughts:

1. Many of us spend half our time wishing for the things we could have if we didn't spend so much time wishing for them!

2. A man will sometimes devote all his life to the development of one part of his body—the wishbone...Robert Frost

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Looking Back

The answer to
A maiden's prayer,
Is a man
Most anywhere,
Using
     Burma-Shave