outpatientsurgery.net/forms.
The tool features a long list of questions, the answers to which will
help you compare the service each vendor provides: Is this potential
vendor compliant to current regulations? Does it make drugs that
will be safe to use? Does it maintain an environment that is suitable
for compounding pharmaceuticals?
The ASHP Foundation's tool is "universally recognized," says
Sheldon S. Sones, RPh, FASCP, a pharmacy consultant based in
Newington, Conn. He encourages you to work with a consultant when
using the tool and analyzing its results.
The FDA also provides a transparent look at what its inspections of
compounding pharmacies turned up — maintaining a clean facility,
using proper aseptic technique — and if and how the facilities
responded to identified deficiencies: osmag.net/qV2KZp.
Some red flags are redder than others, reminds Mr. Sones. "You may
be able to deal with a finding that a facility's drug labels are slightly
illegible," he says, "yet it would obviously be unacceptable if a facility
got cited because it had dirty floors and dust in the sterile area or
because it only tested its products once a year."
5 6 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • A U G U S T 2 0 1 8
"Any recall of any
sort is a red flag."
— Christina Moylan, LPN
