As of June 1st, USP has made available for download the following new and revised USP Compounding General Chapters:

• <795> Pharmaceutical Compounding – Nonsterile Preparations (revised chapter published June 1, 2019)
• <797> Pharmaceutical Compounding – Sterile Preparations (revised chapter published June 1, 2019)
• <800> Hazardous Drugs – Handling in Healthcare Settings (new chapter published June 1, 2019)
• <825> Radiopharmaceuticals – Preparation, Compounding, Dispensing, and Repackaging (new chapter published June 1, 2019)

Per USP’s announcement, “Revisions to chapters <795> and <797> and the development of the new chapter <825> reflect advancements in science and practice. The Expert Committees reviewed over 8,000 comments from patients, healthcare practitioners, policymakers, academicians, and industry to help ensure that broad perspectives are included in the standards while maintaining a focus on patient safety and access to quality medicines.”

The official date of December 1st, 2019, for <800> compliance is aligned with the official date for <797> and <795>, to provide a unified approach to quality compounding. We encourage you to add these chapters to your compounding resources at hand in the pharmacy; they are available at: https://www.usp.org/healthcare-quality-safety

USP <800> is an essential component of a safe and comprehensive compounding operation. In honor of this concept, we would like to congratulate George Malone, PharmD, as the randomly selected winner of our recent USP <800> survey sweepstakes. As the winner, George receives a 55” Samsung UHD TV!

Although we do like to encourage participation in our surveys by offering an entertaining prize, we know that the bulk of our participants do so out of a sincere desire to improve pharmacy practice. With active surveys covering compounding practices, automation use, drug shortages, as well as other vital pharmacy areas, PP&P is aware of the time and dedication necessary to participate, and we thank you for your commitment. Our subsequent analysis and compilation of survey data is meant to benefit all pharmacy practitioners and we hope you will continue to contribute to PP&P surveys moving forward.

All the best,

R. Mitchell Halvorsen
Publisher

CORRECTION: In the May 2019 issue of PP&P, we incorrectly stated a pharmacist’s name in the acknowledgements section of the article, Standardize Parenteral Nutrition for Adult Patients. The correct name is Mark Fondriest, not Mike. PP&P regrets the error.