the past 10 years, especially with the advent of prefilled syringes, says
Mr. Vaida. Now, manufacturers can create labels for prefilled syringes
using tall man lettering. The syringes arrive at your facility with the
tall man lettering already on their labels.
• Colored-coded labels. Other advances in labeling reduce the like-
lihood of mixing up syringes that contain similar medications. One
that's gained in popularity in recent years is color-coded labels, says
Sheldon Sones, RPh, FASCP, president of Sheldon S. Sones and
Associates, a pharmacy and accreditation consulting firm based in
Newington, Conn.
Compounders use a specific color on syringe labels to differentiate
classes of drugs. For example, a blue label might indicate an opioid, a
yellow label would be used on an induction agent and a bright red
label would identify a neuromuscular blocker.
The colored labels are a fast, eye-catching way to identify the right
class of drug you're looking for, but they can come with their own set
of problems, says Mr. Vaida.
"Color coding was more effective many years ago, when there were
only a few types of each drug," he says. "But now, for example, there are
numerous opioid and neuromuscular blockers."
That can be a problem if you're in a rush and mean to grab the 2
mg/ml morphine syringe with a blue label, but instead grab the 4 mg/ml
hydromorphone syringe with the same color label.
Mr. Vaida suggests using colored labels to differentiate syringes by
strength, rather than drug class. That way, when you're reaching for a
syringe, you can find the strength you need first, then ensure you're
grabbing the right kind of drug in that strength category.
A smarter choice
Prefilled syringes also generally reduce contamination errors that can
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