Insights Newsletter: January 2023

Prepare for USP <795> Nonsterile Compounding Changes 

• Pain Point: Updated USP <795> standards that will impact nonsterile compounding will go into effect on November 1, 2023. The goal of these changes is to optimize the quality of compounded preparations by reducing contamination, variability, etc.    
• Solution: Our Pharmacist’s Letter, Hospital Pharmacist’s Letter, Pharmacy Technician’s Letter, and Hospital Pharmacy Technician’s Letter articles explain that the new standards will affect many compounds, from “magic mouthwash,” to topicals, to suspensions or solutions from liquids or pills, as well as commercially available compounding “kits.” We give advice on how to ensure pharmacies are compliant before the changes go into effect. This includes guidance on planning, requirements for the compounding area, hand hygiene, documentation, and assigning beyond-use dates. Our What’s New in Nonsterile Compounding? resource provides a deeper dive into the standards and answers frequently asked questions.   

Use New Guidelines to Reinforce Safe Opioid Use 

• Pain Point: Updated CDC guidelines related to opioid use for noncancer pain were recently published. The big change is the removal of specific recommendations, such as limiting opioid prescriptions for acute pain to three to seven days or a max opioid dose of 90 morphine milligram equivalents (MME) per day.
• Solution: Our Pharmacist’s Letter, Hospital Pharmacist’s Letter, and Prescriber’s Letter articles help clinicians to continue balancing opioid risks with potential benefits. We explain that non-opioids are at least as effective as opioids for many types of pain and emphasize nondrug measures for pain. We educate readers about the new focus on managing “subacute pain,” lasting one to three months, to prevent inadvertent long-term opioid use. When an opioid is needed, we give advice on the type of opioid to use, how to start it, and how to taper. We also remind readers to offer naloxone with opioid prescriptions, especially for patients at increased risk of overdose. Our resource, Appropriate Opioid Use, also provides guidance for managing patient expectations, identifying patients at risk for opioid misuse, and more. 

Learn how to stay current with the latest pharmacy law and regulatory changes, and read recent updates in our Immunization Resource Hub. Don’t miss our new on-demand webinar, and be sure to check out January’s most popular charts for our Letter products.

Read January’s issue of Insights Newsletter.