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Outpatient Surgery E-Weekly

Contact Congress Over Drug Shortage Issues

A Kentucky congressman is urging surgical facilities to contact their members of Congress and request that they sign his letter demanding changes to...

N.J. Posts ASC Inspection Reports Online

State and federal inspection reports of New Jersey's ASCs are now available online, giving patients an opportunity to make more informed choices abo...

Are Opioids Necessary?

While it's not always practical, or even possible, to eliminate opioids from your post-op pain management regiment, reducing their use in favor of n...

Archive > April, 2009 Vol. X, No. 4

Are You in Control of Your Controlled Substances?

Here's how to prevent drugs from disappearing from your facility.

Leroy Kromis, PharmD

Drugs are the forbidden fruit of the healthcare workplace, and they can't be avoided. I've read reports of an anesthesiologist who'd hooked himself up to an infusion pump of sedatives, set to shut off in 4 hours, in order to ensure he'd get some sleep in between long shifts. I've heard about how pre-filled morphine syringes and fentanyl ampoules can be tampered with so that the emptied containers look like packaging errors, not theft. I've noted inventory shrinkage in all pharmaceutical areas, not just among the painkillers but also among the acid reflux and erectile dysfunction drugs. And then there was the account of the surgical nurse who admitted to federal authorities that she emptied vials of fentanyl and refilled them with saline solution.

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Categories: Anesthesia, Business Management
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