Picture this: A hospice nurse has just administered the final dose of liquid morphine to a dying patient. There’s 0.4 mL remaining in the vial. The patient’s family is in the next room. There is no second nurse. There is no pharmacist. There is no automated dispensing cabinet.
The nurse is alone — with a controlled substance and a regulatory obligation.
This scene plays out thousands of times a day across the United States. And almost no one in pharmaceutical waste management is talking about it.
