Crushing Systems and USP 800 Compliance

Dana Saffel, PharmD, CEO of Pharmacare Strategies, discusses various crushing systems and USP 800 compliance during the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists in Washington, DC.

Dana Saffel, PharmD: The USP 800 has said that if you do an open crush — So, think about dropping the tablet in the mortar and pestle, and grinding and crushing – that’s going to aerosolize a lot of particles. If that was your method of crushing, then that would be requiring that you put, potentially, a mask, double gloves, and even potentially a gown if there’s a chance that the dust could get into the skin and be absorbed in the skin. And we do have plenty of medications that have that potential.

On the other hand, there are crushing systems that are closed, where you drop the tablet into a closed envelope, the crushing-mechanism crushes within that closed environment, and then you carefully open away from your face from that envelope, dump the powder into the soufflé cup or into a condiment, mix it, and administer it. And maybe, in that procedure, you determine at a facility level that that risk of exposure is very low.

So, 1 way that you crush might require that you don all the personal equipment, another way that you crush might be determined at the facility level to not be risky.