Your patient was discharged. what should you do with the remaining, unopened single-dose vials?

Even if a single-dose or single-use vial appears to contain multiple doses or contains more medication than is needed for a single patient, that vial should not be used for more than one patient nor stored for future use on the same patient.

To prevent unnecessary waste or the temptation to use contents from single-dose or single-use vials for more than one patient, healthcare personnel should select the smallest vial necessary for their needs when making purchasing decisions.

Splitting of a single-dose or single-use vial into multiple single-use vehicles (e.g., syringes) is considered repackaging, which is defined by the United States Pharmacopeia as “The act of removing a sterile product or preparation from its original primary container and placing it into another primary container, usually of a smaller size without further manipulation.”  If contents from a single-dose or single-use vial must be used for more than one patient, the full Category 1 or Category 2 requirements as described in USP Chapter <797> Pharmaceutical Compounding – Sterile Preparationsexternal icon, as well as the manufacturer’s recommendations pertaining to safe storage of that medication outside of its original container, must be followed.