Too Much Time in the Sun? Skin Patch Might Tell
Source: WebMD, December 2018
The availability of cytotoxic drugs in a premixed, ready-to-use (RTU) format provides another option for oncology specialists and their patients, according to Jeffrey C. Lombardo, PharmD, BCOP. Pharmacists have been administering prepackaged drugs for agents used in the infectious disease field, such as antibiotics and electrolyte supplements, and the benefits are multifaceted, Lombardo said.
The introduction of RTU chemotherapy in cancer care comes at a time when oncology practices are bracing for new requirements for hazardous drug management. The US Pharmacopeia (USP) Convention’s General Chapter <800> draft guidelines, which cover safe handling practices, and the USP <797> revision, which involves standards for compounding sterile preparations, are scheduled to take effect in December 2019.1
Lombardo, associate director of the Empire State Patient Safety Assurance Network and research assistant professor at the University at Buffalo in New York, discussed the potential impact that RTUs for cytotoxic drugs might have in the oncology arena in an interview with OncLive.