PRACTICAL PORTION Smaller vials of propofol could reduce waste and support safety.

PROPERLY PACKAGED PROPOFOL
Drug Maker Introduces Propofol in 10 mL Vials

When propofol was in short supply, anesthesia providers often complained that the drug’s large, single-use-only vials led to excessive waste after short cases in which only a small amount of the IV sedative-hypnotic was needed. With the introduction of propofol packaged in smaller vials, however, a German pharmaceutical manufacturer is offering an effective solution.

Fresenius Kabi is the first drug maker to market Diprivan (propofol) injectable emulsion, USP, in 10 mL vials. The company received FDA approval for the portioning, which joins its 20 mL, 50 mL and 100 mL sizes, in June. “Many [providers and managers] expressed a real need for a 10mL presentation,” says company spokesman Matt Kuhn. Pricing information for the 10 mL vials was not immediately disclosed.

“The Diprivan 10 mL presentation is designed with consideration for common dosing practices to support single patient use and reduce waste,” says John Ducker, president and CEO of the company’s U.S. division in Lake Zurich, Ill., in a statement. “This is particularly important for outpatient surgery centers where lower doses are commonly administered.”

The size of propofol vials became a point of contention in the lawsuits that followed the 2008 Nevada hepatitis C outbreak. Manufacturer Teva Parenteral Medicines and distributors Baxter Healthcare and McKesson Medical Surgical were ordered to pay a group of infected patients $183.6 million in October 2011 after a judge agreed that 50 mL and 100 mL vials marketed without single-use-only restrictions encouraged an endoscopy center’s staff to reuse the vials, and consequently cross-contaminate patients.

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