Oral Anticancer Drugs – Part B Reading

01. The manual:

1. Clearly mentions who is to bear the cost of replacement;
2. Cannot put the responsibility of bearing the cost of replacement on the parties involved in receiving and unpacking;
3. Instructs the parties to frame an understanding regarding replacement conditions;

Receiving and unpacking Oral Anticancer Drugs – Mode

Within the community pharmacy setting, space is limited and pharmacy tasks may be shared among the pharmacy dispensary and non-dispensary staff. Pharmacy managers must take steps to develop and implement work practice policies and procedures to ensure that unintentional occupational exposure to OACDs is avoided. Education and tools (e.g., visual aids and/or checklists) must be provided so that receiving and unpacking occurs safely. Furthermore, policies and procedures for managing damaged shipments must be developed to avoid confusion about whether the pharmacy or the manufacturer/distributor is responsible for the cost of replacement product if a product package has been damaged during transport.

02. Oral anticancer drugs may come in cartons:

1. That may contain other drugs as well;
2. That may allow leakage;
3. That are not safe to be delivered in high traffic areas;

Receiving and unpacking Oral Anticancer Drugs – Best Practices

Best practice recommends that receiving and unpacking of shipments that contain oral anticancer drugs should be in a separate room. If that is not possible, receiving and unpacking should be in a designated, low-traffic area. The task of receiving and unpacking drug deliveries that contain oral anticancer drugs should be the responsibility of specific individuals. These individuals should be given this responsibility only after completion of job-specific training. A process should be in place to ensure adequate staff coverage in instances where the primary individual is absent. The outside of cartons is examined for possible damage or leakage prior to unpacking in the event they contain oral anticancer drugs.

03. If oral anticancer drugs are delivered under a dubious state:

1. They should not be used for medication;
2. They should be returned;
3. The originator should be served a notice;

Receiving and unpacking Oral Anticancer Drugs – Delivery

Deliveries containing oral anticancer drugs where the integrity of the original manufacturer’s package has been compromised, leading to the potential for occupational exposure to a hazardous drug, should be dealt with in the same manner as a spill.  When an oral anticancer drug is received without appropriate warning labels, the pharmacy manager or other designated member of the pharmacy team should notify the originator (i.e., distributor, group purchasing agent or other) and reinforce the importance of affixing warning labels to indicate to those handling the delivery that special handling precautions are required.

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