PharmEcology® Receives Patent On Pharmaceutical Waste Identification System
At a time when healthcare facilities face a growing threat of liability for inappropriate disposal of pharmaceutical waste, PharmEcology® Associates, LLC, announced today that the U.S. Patent Office has issued their patent for a Pharmaceutical Hazardous Waste Identification and Management System, Patent # 7,096,161.
PharmEcology’s® inventions, which it markets under the names PharmE® Waste Wizard and PharmE® Formulary Analysis, enable healthcare facilities to easily and quickly identify pharmaceuticals that become hazardous waste when discarded. The services provide healthcare facilities with much needed guidance to help avoid liability and insure protection of our nation’s surface, ground, and drinking water supplies. In addition, the system goes a step further and identifies drugs of concern that are not yet regulated as hazardous waste, such as over 100 chemotherapy agents that were developed after the federal hazardous waste regulations were enacted in 1976.
According to PharmEcology’s® president, Charlotte Smith, the company provides healthcare facilities with the information they need to make sound regulatory and environmental disposal decisions in an easily accessible manner. The technology described in the company’s patent enables the PharmE® Waste Wizard to provide online search capabilities for over 148,000 drug products. PharmEcology PharmE® Formulary Analysis updates its online database weekly with over 200 items, ensuring that subscribers get the latest information on drug disposal requirements for new drugs and new dosage forms. The patented technology also includes the company’s PharmE® Formulary Analysis, a product that applies PharmEcology’s® database to a facility’s entire drug formulary or purchase history. Smith says more and more hospitals are finding PharmE® Formulary Analysis extremely useful as they launch broad-based initiatives to properly segregate hazardous pharmaceutical waste.
The products also help address OSHA concerns and incorporate hazardous materials information from the NIOSH Hazardous Drug Alert, along with other safety references. Ms. Smith, who is considered a national expert in the area of hazardous pharmaceutical waste management, summed up the system by noting: “Given the broad diversity of pharmaceuticals in the marketplace, we are committed to providing a dynamic, cost-effective source of reliable management and disposal information.”
For more information on hazardous materials and hazardous waste handling, contact us at 262-814-2635 or email us at info@pharmecology.com.
- Posted: August 22, 2006
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PharmEcology has been the thought leader in pharmaceutical waste management since its inception in 2000 and has pioneered both hazardous waste categorization and the implementation process throughout the healthcare organization.
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