Deaths related to opioid overdoses is an epidemic in the United States, with an estimated 130 people dying from an overdose every day, according to the National Institute for Drug Abuse. Healthcare facilities and hospitals must do all they can to combat this epidemic and prevent drug diversion of opioids and all controlled substances.
Risks to Patient Safety and Healthcare Facilities
Drug diversion puts patients at risk of contracting infectious diseases, of receiving inadequate control of pain and from receiving substandard care from impaired healthcare workers. Healthcare facilities face serious fines for substandard management and disposal of controlled substances, negative publicity which compromises trust in the community and safety risks associated with workers under the influence.
Prevention of Drug Diversion in the Healthcare Setting
Providing adequate training to all healthcare personnel is key in preventing drug diversion in a healthcare setting. The Institute for Safe Medication Practices, offers a free webinar on preventing drug diversion in healthcare settings, with learning objectives that will help healthcare workers to eliminate risks for drug diversion by identifying safe medication handling and disposal practices. Interventions should be discussed with all staff to minimize diversion of controlled substances and employees should be trained on recognizing signs of drug diversion. Warning signs could be healthcare workers requesting prescriptions for patients that are not their own, or frequent access to locked controlled substances. Training all employees and staff and implementing convenient and easy to use drug disposal products is key to successfully eliminating drug diversion.
C2R Global Manufacturing, Inc. offers drug disposal products which are safe, convenient to use and meet DEA regulations by neutralizing medications with chemical digestion. Incorporating our easy to use products as part of your controlled substance prevention program contributes to compliant drug disposal practices which reduce diversion and prevent environmental contamination. Contact us to learn more about pharmaceutical waste disposal best practices to prevent drug diversion in healthcare.
