In this guest column, Dan Scungio, MT(ASCP), SLS, laboratory safety officer for multihospital system Sentara Healthcare in Virginia, and otherwise known as “Dan, the Lab Safety Man,” discusses the dangers of aerosol exposures from respiratory specimens.
Regulations and safety standards help reduce medical errors, safeguard public health, and maintain operational accreditation and licensure. However, they are only the minimum requirements and do not guarantee safety.
Regulatory investigations, civil litigation, criminal enforcement actions, and reputational damage can all follow when hospitals fail to detect, document, and respond appropriately to controlled substance loss or misuse.
