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CDC Urges Health Care Providers to Protect Patients by Avoiding Improper Use of Single-Dose, Single-Use Vials
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a statement reminding health care providers that medications labeled as “single dose” or “single use” are to be used for only one patient, and that this practice protects patients from life-threatening infections that occur when medications get contaminated from unsafe use. In restating these guidelines, CDC seeks to dispel inaccuracies being disseminated to health care providers. CDC notes that while concerns have been raised about whether these guidelines contribute to drug shortages, and the agency recognizes the problem of drug shortages, such shortages are a result of manufacturing, shipping, and other issues unrelated to the above guidelines.
CDC’s priority is protecting patients from harm, and the agency indicates in a position statement, that “CDC routinely investigates and is apprised of infectious disease outbreaks involving single-dose/single-use vials being used for multiple patients. These outbreaks cause extensive harm to patients, and they are associated with significant healthcare and legal expenses. Therefore, CDC continues to strongly support its current policies regarding single-dose/single-use vials.”
CDC adds further that “It is imperative that drug shortages and drug waste concerns are dealt with appropriately and do not lead to unsafe medical practices that impose increased disease risk on patients. Shortages of some essential medications may warrant implementation of meticulously applied practice and quality standards to subdivide contents of single-dose/single-use vials, as stated in United States Pharmacopeia General Chapter ‹797› Pharmaceutical Compounding – Sterile Preparations.”
The CDC statement also includes a list of basic safe injection practices, a chart summarizing related misperceptions versus facts, and agency responses to frequently asked questions.
