Sheldon S. Sones, RPh, FASCP, is president of Sheldon S. Sones and Associates, a pharmacy and accreditation consulting firm based in Newington, Conn. The group, serving more than 100 sites in five states, has specialized in safe medication management and pharmacy consulting to freestanding and hospital-based ambulatory surgical, endoscopy and renal dialysis centers since 1985.Prior to creating Sheldon S. Sones and Associates, Mr. Sones worked as the associate administrator, chief operating officer and budget director of Memorial Hospital in Meriden, Conn. He is also a seasoned educator, having served in faculty positions at the University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy, Yale University School of Nursing and Wilcox College of Nursing. Mr. Sones is also deeply involved in pharmacy advocacy efforts. He served two terms as legislative chairman for the Connecticut Society of Health-System Pharmacists, formerly known as the Connecticut Society of Hospital Pharmacists. He also served as founder-chairman of the Pharmacy Advisory Board to the State Health Department's Division of Hospital and Medical Care and as chair of the Department's Public Health Code Revision Committee for Pharmacy Services.
Through his own weekly e-mail publication Pharm-ASC, Mr. Sones also offers his expert insight on a range of safety issues, including proper disposal of expired medications and use of multiple dose vials. "Common sense prevails: Single patient use vials such as propofol are to be handled appropriately," he said in a recently Pharm-ASC publication. "Any multiple dose vial that has been used in a sterile field, placed on a contaminated surface or used procedural tray or has been used in an emergent procedure should be discarded after use for such purpose."