Repackaging services

Another common practice in hospitals is the repackaging of products purchased in bulk into smaller containers. Increased handling ofthe product inevitably increases the risk of contamination, as shown by one survey when hospital-repacked items were found to be contaminated twice as often as those in the original pack (Public Health Laboratory Service Report 1971). 

Leading distributors offer a broad spectrum of these services. Brenntag, for example, as a full-line distributor of industrial and specialty chemicals, provides a one-stop shop of over 25,000 chemical products for more than 150,000 customers, combined with a broad range of related value-added services such as mixing, blending, repackaging, and technical services and support. 

According to the Healthcare Distribution Management Association (HDMA—formerly the National Wholesale Druggists Association), there are thousands of wholesalers. Fewer than a half dozen are responsible for a majority of sales. These full-line or full-service wholesalers obtain medications directly from the manufacturers and distribute the medications to pharmacies (both independent and chains), institutions, and other wholesalers. Some chain pharmacies have regional or local distribution centers that receive medications from the wholesaler in large quantities and repackage the medications into package sizes that are more feasible at the store level. 

As the reactor operates, the fuel rods are gradually depleted and products from the fission reaction accumulate. Because of this, the reactor must be serviced periodically. Spent fuel rods can be reprocessed and repackaged to make new fuel rods. Some fission products, however, are extremely... 

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