Page 13 - 21 Fall Newsletter

The Do’s and Don’ts of Prescribing

Controlled Substances, Cont’d.

hydrocodone bitartrate per 1.5mg of homatropine per References
5mL. As a veterinary pharmacist, the two most frequent Drug Enforcement Administration. (2020). Pharmacist Manual – An
Informational Outline of Controlled Substances Act. https://
issues I see with this medication involve the medication
www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/pubs/manuals/(DEA‐DC‐046)(EO‐DEA154)
strength. First, the homatropine component and strength _Pharmacist_Manual.pdf
must be written on the prescription for it to be considered North Carolina Board of Pharmacy : NCBOP Homepage. (n.d.). North
a valid prescription. The prescription should read as Carolina Board of Pharmacy. Retrieved August 14, 2021, from http://
www.ncbop.org/index.html
“Hydrocodone 5mg/Homatropine 1.5mg/5mL.” The second
common mistake involves failing to keep in mind that the
strength is measured per 5 mL. It is quite easy to overlook
this slight detail while calculating the dose for a particular
patient, as some veterinarians assume that the product is
5mg of hydrocodone/1.5 homatropine per 1 mL. As a
result, we receive a number of hydrocodone prescriptions
that are significantly under‐dosed due to this common
miscalculation.

The DEA Pharmacist Manual as well as the North Carolina
Board of Pharmacy (NCBOP) webpage are both great
resources to reference for any further questions or
concerns regarding controlled substances.

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