Five Years After NECC, Experts Review the State of Hospital Compounding and Patient Safety

WASHINGTON, Oct. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Experts from top pharmacist, healthcare provider, hospital and patient organizations will gather today, five years after the tragedy of the New England Compounding Center, to assess the state of patient safety and hospital compounding.  In a day-long dialogue, delegates will evaluate subsequent progress – regulatory, technology and others – and highlight leading practices to promote the safety of compounding for hospital patients.

The Roundtable on Patient Safety and Hospital Compounding will enable experts and stakeholder/advocates to reflect on five years' worth of learnings since the NECC catastrophe, and share and suggest improvements in clinical practices that further boost safety patients.  

Errors in the compounding of pharmaceuticals pose serious, sometimes fatal, ramifications for patients and challenge the U.S. healthcare system broadly.  While no crisis resembling NECC has materialized since 2012, serious compounding errors have nonetheless been documented.  One such error occurred when the daughter of Chris Jerry, who was receiving chemotherapy, was given a solution that contained too much sodium chloride.  Jerry's daughter, then 2 years old, died within days of the event of the event. Jerry will speak about his daughter's experience, and urge leaders to take more steps to ensure against future such tragedies.

More than 30 delegates (list available here) will highlight ways to minimize errors in compounding and share recommendations about additional steps that may benefit hospital patients.  Panelists will discuss the role of technology and system improvements; consider the benefits and gaps in oversight and accreditation; and seek to develop consensus around leading practices.

"It is vital that we come together as a community – pharmacists, patient advocates, public health advocates, clinicians and pharmaceutical innovators," said Eric Kastango, MBA, RPh, FASHP, President and CEO of Clinical IQ and one of the Roundtable participants. "By sharing what we have learned and recommendations for continued improvements to ensure the safety of hospital compounded medicines through technological innovations, purchasing and dispensing decisions, or additional education, training, or awareness measures, we can do so much for patients and the healthcare system."  Baxter Healthcare Corporation sponsored the day's discussion. 

For more information, visit www.patientsafetyroundtable.org.

SOURCE Roundtable on Patient Safety and Hospital Compounding

Related Links

http://www.patientsafetyroundtable.org/