Establishing powder-handling workflow practices and standard operating procedures: compounding pharmacy and safety.

This is an ongoing discussion and analysis of powder-handling safety in the compounding pharmacy laboratory that started in the November/December 2013 issue of the International Journal of Pharmaceutical Compounding. In the previous technical article, we established that most chemical powders handled during compounding procedures have an established occupational exposure limits and that powders are micronized during manipulation. All micronized powders handled on an open bench create health hazards to the technicians and create a potential for cross-contamination to the lab environment.

A growing codependency: compounding pharmacy and safety.

Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are in constant contact with potent compounds. When compounding with powders, there is a susceptibility to environmental conditions such that proper containment be in place to keep the employees safe, the medicine free from cross contamination or the introduction of outside contaminants, and the workplace free from floating active pharmaceutical ingredient particles. Adapting powder hoods as safety devices that work in direct relation to clearly defined standard operating procedures and good lab practices will facilitate a safer lab environment for employees and ensure good-quality prescriptions.

Cerebral lesions and causes of death in male alcoholics. A forensic autopsy study.

Autopsies on 195 male alcoholics aged 30-64 years who died outside hospitals and nursing homes in Oslo from 1984 to 1988, were carried out at the Institute of Forensic Medicine, Rikshospitalet. In 127 cases brain tissue was examined neuropathologically, 86 (67.7%) showed abnormalities and 28 contained lesions of more than one type.

[Pathologic brain damage in male alcoholics dying outside of hospitals].

From 1984 to 1988, 195 male alcoholics aged 30-64 years who died outside hospitals and nursing homes in Oslo were autopsied at the Institute of Forensic Medicine, the National Hospital, Oslo. Of the 127 brains neuropathologically examined, 86 (67.7%) showed abnormalities, and 28 contained lesions of more than one type.