By: Fred Gebhart, Contributing Editor
Drug Topics
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is looking for mismanagement of hazardous pharmaceutical waste generated by hospitals and other healthcare facilities. The odds are good that your hospital is in violation.
“Two-thirds of U.S. hospitals are not fully compliant with EPA requirements,” warned Tim Vanderveen, PharmD, vice president, CareFusion Center for Safety and Clinical Excellence, during a recent webinar, sponsored by CareFusion. “Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians can be held personally liable for violations in which they are involved.”
Hospitals seldom set out to violate EPA provisions. They just don’t realize that they are subject to EPA regulation, said Fred Massoomi, PharmD, pharmacy operations coordinator, Nebraska Methodist Hospital, Omaha, Neb. He became involved when the hospital was found in violation of EPA’s Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulations in 2004 for the EPA U-listed chemical cyclophosphamide waste handling and manifesting.
“A lot of what we do in pharmacy in terms of pharmaceutical waste practices is a legacy of concerning practices, like sewering of drug wastes, which is not the best practice to protect the public,” he said. “There is a consequence to the ways we dispose of drugs. EPA has had healthcare on its radar for some time.”
It’s an easy target. In 2008, EPA estimated that hospitals produce about 12 million pounds of hazardous waste annually, Massoomi said. His hospital, with 400 licensed beds, has more than 459 separate locations at which hazardous pharmaceutical wastes can be generated.
“The first step to managing this problem is first admitting that your facilities have a problem,” he said. “Not recognizing that you produce hazardous waste is the worst step you can take, as noted by our visit by the EPA in 2004.”
Defining “hazardous waste”
The good news is that fewer than 5% of drugs qualify as hazardous waste (Table 1), said Lisa M. Lauer, an official with EPA Materials Recovery and Waste Management Division, Office of Resource Conversion and Recovery, Washington, D.C.