Sentinel Event Alert 52: Preventing infection from the misuse of vials

Thousands of patients have been adversely affected by the misuse of single-dose/single-use and multiple-dose vials. The misuse of these vials has caused harm to individual patients through occurrences and outbreaks of bloodborne pathogens and associated infections, including hepatitis B and C virus, meningitis, and epidural abscesses. Adverse events caused by this misuse have occurred in both inpatient and outpatient settings, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).