Baxa Sponsors Exhibitor’s Theatre on Reducing Environmental Exposure to Hazardous Drugs at ASHP Mid-Year Meeting
Baxa Corporation is sponsoring a presentation to discuss the impact of the recent NIOSH Alert on safe handling of hazardous drugs for pharmacy practice and the use of closed-system devices for reducing the risks of occupational exposure. The Exhibitor’s Theatre presentation will take place on Monday, December 6th at the meeting of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) to be held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.
Englewood, CO (PRWEB) December 1, 2004
Baxa Corporation is sponsoring a presentation to discuss the impact of the recent NIOSH Alert on safe handling of hazardous drugs for pharmacy practice and the use of closed-system devices for reducing the risks of occupational exposure. The Exhibitor’s Theatre presentation will take place on Monday, December 6th at the meeting of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) to be held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.
The presentation details the findings from a study on biological uptake of cyclophosphamide and ifosfamide in the infusion center pharmacy and nursing staff at the newly built cancer center of the University of Utah. The presenter, Jim Jorgenson, RPh, is Director of Pharmacy for the Huntsman Cancer Institute, where the study took place.
Study data documented that standard worker precautions and safe handling guidelines were not effective in preventing environmental exposure and subsequent uptake of the chemotherapy drugs in the healthcare workers tested. These findings have been supported in a NIOSH Alert entitled, “Preventing Occupational Exposures to Antineoplastic and other Hazardous Drugs in Health Care Settings” published in March to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Web site.
The program will include discussion of recommended precautions for safe handling of hazardous drugs, the effect of the adoption of closed system technology (CST) on the facility’s environmental contamination levels, and the impact of both the NIOSH Alert and USP 797 on pharmacy practice standards.
ASHP is a 30,000-member national organization representing pharmacists practicing in hospitals, homecare, HMOs and alternate-site facilities. The Society provides extensive published and educational resources that help pharmacists improve their professional standards and make the best use of medicines and technology for patient safety and improved outcomes. ASHP holds two annual meetings for members and industry representatives.
The complimentary educational program will be held Monday, December 6th in Exhibitor’s Theatre 07, Room 311D of the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, beginning at 11:15 AM. Participants are eligible for one credit hour of Continuing Education (CEU).
About Baxa Corporation
As a leading provider of devices and systems for the preparation, handling, packaging, and administration of liquid medications, Baxa manufactures and markets a wide range of healthcare products for use in hospitals, critical care units and alternate-site pharmacies. Headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, Baxa has subsidiaries and sales offices in Canada, the United Kingdom; Denmark, and Germany; and distribution partners worldwide. Further information is available at www. baxa. com.
Click the following link to view a presentation by Jim Jorgenson "Using a Closed System Device to Reduce Occupational Exposure to Hazardous Drugs." Jorgenson is Director of Pharmacy for the Huntsman Cancer Institute and Associate Dean for Professional Affairs at the University of Utah:
Http://www. isips. org/presentations/PhaSeal/player. html (http://www. isips. org/presentations/PhaSeal/player. html)
Contacts:
Marian Robinson, Vice President, Marketing, Baxa Corporation: 800.567.2292 ext. 2157 or 303.617.2157
Email: marian. robinson@baxa. com
Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR
Absolutely Public Relations: 303.984.9801 or 303.669.3558
Email: maggie@absolutelypr. com
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