Hazardous Drugs: Draft NIOSH List of Hazardous Drugs in Healthcare Settings, 2020; Procedures; and Risk Management Information

On 5/1/2020 The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in the Department of Health and Human Services announced that the following draft documents were available for public comment: (1) NIOSH Procedures for Developing the NIOSH List of Hazardous Drugs in Healthcare Settings (Procedures); (2) NIOSH List of Hazardous Drugs in Healthcare Settings, 2020 (List), including those drugs proposed for placement on the 2020 List, and (3) Managing Hazardous Drug Exposures: Information for Healthcare Settings. On 4/27/2023 NIOSH announced the following final documents were available in the docket and on the NIOSH website: Procedures for Developing the NIOSH List of Hazardous Drugs in Healthcare Settings and Managing Hazardous Drug Exposures: Information for Healthcare Settings. On 1/16/2024 NIOSH requested public comment on two draft reevaluations with initial recommendations to change the status of two drugs, liraglutide and pertuzumab, on the NIOSH List of Antineoplastic and Other Hazardous Drugs in Healthcare Settings. The reevaluations were developed based on the process described in the NIOSH Procedures for Developing the NIOSH List of Hazardous Drugs in Healthcare Settings. Based on the reevaluations, the NIOSH initial recommendations are to remove liraglutide and pertuzumab from the list.

To view the notice and related materials, visit http://www.regulations.govexternal icon and enter CDC-2020-0046 in the search field and click “Search.”

Peer Review: Managing Hazardous Drug Exposures: Information for Healthcare Settings

Subject of Planned Report: This dissemination describes the health and safety risks associated with exposure to hazardous drugs in healthcare settings, and discusses methods to control those risks.

Purpose of Planned Report: The dissemination will inform workers and managers in healthcare workplaces, including healthcare professionals, administrative workers, and environmental control staff, of the potential risks associated with exposure to hazardous drugs, how to recognize the presence of hazardous drugs, and how to properly label, handle and store hazardous drugs.

Type of Dissemination: Influential Scientific Information.

Timing of Review: 05/01/2020 to 08/01/2020

Type of Review: Individual letter reports.

Opportunities for the Public to Comment: Yes
Comment period announced via Federal Register Notice. Public comment period concurrent with peer review. Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
• NIOSH Docket
• Mail: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, NIOSH Docket Office, 1090 Tusculum Avenue, MS C-34, Cincinnati, Ohio 45226-1998.

Peer Reviewers Provided with Public Comments Before the Review: No

Anticipated Number of Reviewers: 4 – 10

Primary Disciplines or Expertise: Industrial hygiene, engineering, occupational safety and health

Reviewers Selected By: NIOSH

Public Nominations Requested for Reviewers: No

Charge to Peer Reviewers:

1. Please provide feedback on the overall document:
   1. What additional information would improve its usefulness and why?
   2. What changes could be made to improve the utility of the information?
   3. What information is redundant, incorrect, missing, or not needed? Please explain.
2. Please provide any additional studies or scientific information that evaluate or validate engineering, work practice or administrative controls to reduce exposures to hazardous drugs in healthcare settings.
3. Please provide any additional studies or scientific information that support or validate the use of the NIOSH recommended control strategies or alternative strategies to control exposures to hazardous drugs.
4. Please provide any additional studies or scientific information that support or validate evidence-based strategies or approaches for controlling exposures to hazardous drugs that are different from those that NIOSH has proposed.
5. NIOSH has provided its proposed recommendations and related information about controlling hazardous drugs in the Table of Control Approaches in Chapter 8.
   1. What additional information would improve the usefulness of this table and why?
   2. What structural or format changes could be made to improve the utility of this table?
   3. What information is redundant, incorrect, missing, or not needed? Please explain.
6. What improvements could be made to this risk management information to make it more useful to employers and healthcare workers? Please provide specific examples.
7. Please provide information about your professional experience, if any, of implementing control strategies for exposures to hazardous drugs in healthcare or similar settings. Please describe what you found to be most or least effective and why. Include relevant publications if available.
8. Please provide any additional comments or suggestions either as a list below or using Track Changes in the attached draft document.