Methadone pumps and running balances

[kl06229]

The other day I was using a pump for the first time ever and noticed that it drips a little when being used, just the smallest drop and seemingly nothing serious.

However, with repeated use, surely this adds up and by the end of a few weeks there must be a good few mls lost.

Furthermore, I noticed that the volume measured by a pump is also slightly more than using a measuring cylinder. I measured a volume with the pump and squirted it into a cylinder and the miniscus sat slightly above the mark.

Sounds pretty sad and pedantic, but who has had this impact on their running balances and lead to missing/unaccounted methadone? After all, there's nothing quite as fun as scratching your head towards closing time.

[Defblade]

There's always an overage in methadone bottles anyway. A lot of places have given up on running balances for methadone completely (running balances are only good practice); otherwise just do a stock check from time to time to make sure you're in the right area - update the book as necessary.

[Pharmanaut]

A pouring lip on the bottle would help as well...
Getting shaky in my old age.

[andrew paxton]

The multiples that do keep running balances seem to only insist on reports if the discrepancy is above 2% of what has been dispensed since the last stock check. Sounds great, but if you use a certain manufacturer's Methadone, the discrepancies are usually over +6% so you still have to report it! It's only routine though, No-one will accuse you of adding a bit of Methadone for good measure