Shu Tracy, Ladhar Simroop, Ong Dionzie, Chung Alfie, Drummond Isla, Tejani Aaron M
is a Doctor of Pharmacy student in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia.
, BSc(Pharm), PharmD, is a Medication Use Evaluation Pharmacist with Lower Mainland Pharmacy Services (Fraser Health), Langley, British Columbia.
Can J Hosp Pharm. 2025 Aug 13;78(3):e3748. doi: 10.4212/cjhp.3748. eCollection 2025.
The Canadian health care sector contributes 4.6% of national greenhouse gas emissions, with medications accounting for 25% of that amount. Reducing waste from high-cost multidose items such as eye drops and inhalers can lower environmental and health care costs.
To evaluate tamper-proofing practices in hospital pharmacy departments in British Columbia and to explore opportunities for standardization to reduce medication waste.
Site visits were conducted at 13 hospitals across 3 health authorities in British Columbia-Vancouver Coastal Health, Providence Health Care, and Fraser Health-to gather data on tamper-proofing practices in hospital pharmacy departments.
Methods of tamper-proofing varied across departments. Key recommendations for improvement include the implementation of adhesive stickers or other tamper-evident features, standardization of the placement of tamper-evident adhesive stickers, prioritization of patient-specific medications for tamper-proofing, and development of and adherence to policies/procedures for most multidose medications before they leave the pharmacy.
Standardizing tamper-proofing practices can reduce medication waste and environmental impact, with potential for broader adoption across hospitals.
加拿大医疗保健部门的温室气体排放量占全国的4.6%，其中药物占该排放量的25%。减少眼药水和吸入器等高成本多剂量药品的浪费可降低环境和医疗保健成本。
评估不列颠哥伦比亚省医院药房部门的防篡改措施，并探索标准化的机会以减少药物浪费。
对不列颠哥伦比亚省三个卫生当局（温哥华沿岸卫生局、普罗维登斯医疗保健局和菲沙卫生局）的13家医院进行实地考察，以收集医院药房部门防篡改措施的数据。
各部门的防篡改方法各不相同。主要改进建议包括实施不干胶贴纸或其他防篡改特征、防篡改不干胶贴纸放置的标准化、对患者特定药物进行防篡改的优先级设定，以及在大多数多剂量药物离开药房之前制定并遵守相关政策/程序。
标准化防篡改措施可减少药物浪费和环境影响，并有可能在各医院更广泛地采用。
