PTCB Pharmacy Technician (PTCE) — All Questions

Ventolin HFA and Proventil HFA are brand names for which generic drug?

• a.Albuterol✓
• b.Ipratropium
• c.Levalbuterol tartrate
• d.Beclomethasone dipropionate

Ventolin HFA and Proventil HFA are albuterol sulfate metered-dose inhalers, short-acting beta-2 agonists used as rescue inhalers. Levalbuterol is the closest trap: it is the related R-isomer sold as Xopenex, not another name for these products. Ipratropium is Atrovent, an anticholinergic, and beclomethasone is an inhaled corticosteroid used for maintenance, not rescue.

Apixaban (Eliquis) belongs to which drug class?

• a.Antiplatelet agent that blocks the P2Y12 receptor
• b.Vitamin K antagonist
• c.Thrombolytic enzyme that dissolves an existing clot
• d.Direct oral factor Xa inhibitor✓

Apixaban is a direct oral anticoagulant that inhibits factor Xa and does not require routine INR monitoring. The vitamin K antagonist description is the tempting one because warfarin is also an oral anticoagulant used for atrial fibrillation, but warfarin works by blocking vitamin K-dependent clotting factor synthesis and is dosed to an INR. Clopidogrel is the P2Y12 antiplatelet and alteplase is a thrombolytic.

Generic names ending in the stem '-olol', such as metoprolol and atenolol, identify which drug class?

• a.Calcium channel blockers
• b.Beta-adrenergic blocking agents✓
• c.Alpha-1 blockers
• d.Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors

The '-olol' stem marks the beta-adrenergic blocking agents: metoprolol, atenolol, propranolol, carvedilol. ACE inhibitors are the tempting choice because they treat the same conditions and are often on the same profile, but they carry the '-pril' stem, as in lisinopril and enalapril. Dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers end in '-dipine' and alpha-1 blockers such as doxazosin end in '-zosin'.

Ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin and moxifloxacin share the '-floxacin' stem. Which antibiotic class is this?

• a.Third-generation cephalosporins
• b.Macrolide antibiotics
• c.Fluoroquinolones✓
• d.Aminoglycoside antibiotics

The '-floxacin' stem identifies the fluoroquinolone antibiotics. Macrolides are the usual wrong pick because they are also broad-spectrum oral antibiotics, but they end in '-thromycin', as in azithromycin and clarithromycin. Cephalosporins begin with 'cef-' (ceftriaxone, cefdinir), and the aminoglycosides are injectable agents such as gentamicin and tobramycin.

A patient is picking up doxycycline capsules. Which counseling point belongs on this prescription?

• a.Separate each dose from dairy, antacids, and iron or calcium supplements by about two hours✓
• b.Take each dose with a full glass of milk or a serving of yogurt to reduce stomach upset
• c.Take the dose at bedtime right before lying down, when the stomach is empty
• d.No sunscreen or protective clothing is needed while taking this antibiotic

Calcium, magnesium, aluminum and iron bind tetracyclines in the gut and sharply reduce how much drug is absorbed, so doses are spaced roughly two hours from dairy, antacids and mineral supplements. The milk instruction is the tempting one because milk genuinely does settle the stomach, but it is also the single most effective way to chelate the dose; a full glass of water while staying upright gives the same comfort and also protects the esophagus, which is why the dose is not taken lying down at bedtime. Doxycycline is also photosensitizing, so sun precautions are part of the counseling rather than something that can be skipped.

Sumatriptan (Imitrex) tablets are prescribed for which purpose?

• a.Daily prophylaxis to prevent migraine attacks from occurring
• b.Relief of an acute migraine attack✓
• c.Long-term control of chronic neuropathic pain
• d.Relief of tension-type headache

Triptans are serotonin 5-HT1 agonists taken at the onset of a headache to abort that attack, and patients are told there is a limit to how many doses may be taken in 24 hours. Daily prevention is the tempting choice because migraine prophylaxis is real therapy, but it uses different drugs such as propranolol, topiramate or amitriptyline; a triptan taken every day leads to medication-overuse headache rather than prevention. Tension-type headache is the other close call: sumatriptan acts on the 5-HT1B/1D receptors of the trigeminal-vascular system that drives migraine, and it is not indicated for ordinary tension headache, which is treated with simple analgesics.

Enoxaparin (Lovenox) is dispensed in prefilled syringes. Which description of its class and route is correct?

• a.Unfractionated heparin, given only by continuous IV infusion
• b.Low molecular weight heparin, given subcutaneously✓
• c.Vitamin K antagonist, taken by mouth
• d.Direct thrombin inhibitor, taken by mouth

Enoxaparin is a low molecular weight heparin injected subcutaneously, usually into the fat of the abdomen, and it is dosed by weight without routine aPTT monitoring. Unfractionated heparin is the tempting description since both are heparins, but unfractionated heparin is a different product that is titrated by aPTT and can also be given subcutaneously, so the word 'only' makes that description wrong twice over.

Which medication is a histamine-2 (H2) receptor antagonist used to reduce stomach acid?

• a.Calcium carbonate
• b.Famotidine✓
• c.Metoclopramide
• d.Pantoprazole

Famotidine blocks histamine-2 receptors on the gastric parietal cell and lowers acid output; it is sold both by prescription and over the counter as Pepcid. Pantoprazole is the tempting selection because it also lowers acid, but it is a proton pump inhibitor that blocks the H+/K+-ATPase itself. Calcium carbonate is an antacid that neutralizes acid already in the stomach, and metoclopramide is a prokinetic that speeds gastric emptying.

A patient is dispensed a dry powder inhaler (DPI). Which instruction fits this device?

• a.Press down on the canister while inhaling slowly
• b.Shake the inhaler well and attach a valved holding chamber before inhaling
• c.Rinse the mouthpiece under running water after each dose and air-dry it
• d.Exhale away from the device, then inhale quickly and deeply✓

A DPI has no propellant, so the patient's own fast, deep breath is what pulls the powder out of the device; the patient breathes out away from the mouthpiece first, because exhaling into it adds moisture that clumps the powder. Shaking, a spacer, and pressing a canister while inhaling slowly all describe a pressurized metered-dose inhaler, and washing a DPI with water is exactly what must not be done.

What does the enteric coating on a tablet such as enteric-coated aspirin accomplish?

• a.To protect the drug from stomach acid so it dissolves in the intestine✓
• b.To make the tablet easier to swallow by smoothing it
• c.To spread the drug's release evenly over a 12- to 24-hour dosing interval
• d.To mask a bitter taste for patients who chew their tablets

An enteric coating is acid-resistant: it holds the tablet together through the stomach, which protects an acid-labile drug and spares the gastric lining, and it dissolves at the higher pH of the small intestine. Extended release is the tempting description because both are special coatings that must never be crushed, but extended release controls the rate over time while an enteric coat controls the place of dissolution. A coating can also smooth a tablet or hide a bitter taste, but those are properties of ordinary film and sugar coatings, not the reason a tablet is made enteric-coated.

A patient is dispensed a transdermal patch that is changed every 72 hours. Which counseling point is correct?

• a.Apply the patch to the same spot each time so absorption stays consistent
• b.Remove the old patch before applying a new one✓
• c.Apply the new patch over the old one to keep the drug level steady
• d.Cut the patch in half when a lower dose is wanted

Only one patch should be on the skin at a time: the old patch is peeled off and folded onto itself for disposal, and the new one goes on a clean, dry, hairless site that is rotated each time. Leaving the old patch on stacks two doses on one patient, reusing the same site is what produces local irritation, and cutting a patch can destroy the rate-controlling membrane, so patches are not cut unless the manufacturer's labeling says they may be.

A tablet is labeled for buccal administration. Which is the correct way to take it?

• a.Beneath the tongue, held there until it fully dissolves
• b.Between the cheek and the upper gum✓
• c.Chewed and then swallowed
• d.Swallowed whole with a full glass of water

Buccal means the tablet is tucked between the cheek and the gum, where it dissolves and is absorbed through the mucosa straight into the bloodstream. Sublingual placement under the tongue is the tempting answer because both routes bypass first-pass liver metabolism, but they are separate directions that print differently on the label, and swallowing or chewing the tablet sends it through the stomach and defeats the mucosal route entirely.

A patient asks whether an ophthalmic (eye) product could be used in the ear, and whether an otic (ear) product could be used in the eye. Which statement is correct?

• a.An otic product may be placed in the eye, but an ophthalmic product may not be used in the ear
• b.An ophthalmic product must never be used in the ear, and an otic product must never be used in the eye
• c.The two are interchangeable, since both are supplied as sterile solutions buffered to the same pH
• d.An ophthalmic product may be used in the ear if the prescriber directs it, but an otic product is not acceptable for use in the eye✓

Ophthalmic products are manufactured sterile and adjusted to a pH and tonicity the eye tolerates, so they already meet everything the ear canal requires, and prescribers do order an ophthalmic solution for use in the ear. Otic products are not held to the sterility and tonicity standards of an eye product and can injure the cornea, which is why the substitution runs in one direction only. A ban in both directions is the tempting answer because refusing to substitute is the safer habit, but it is stricter than the actual rule; what does hold is that the substitution comes from the prescriber and not from the patient.

A bottle of amoxicillin oral suspension is reconstituted with water at the pharmacy. What storage and discard information belongs on the label?

• a.Keep it refrigerated and use it until the expiration date printed on the bottle
• b.Refrigerate it and discard any unused portion after 7 days
• c.Store at room temperature and discard after 30 days
• d.Refrigerate it and discard any unused portion after 14 days✓

Once water is added, amoxicillin suspension carries a 14-day in-use period stated in the manufacturer's labeling, and refrigeration is preferred because it improves palatability and stability. A 7-day discard date is the closest call, because reconstituted antibiotics do not all share one in-use period, so the number has to be read off the labeling of the product actually being dispensed rather than assumed from a general rule. The expiration date printed on the bottle is the other classic error: it applies to the dry powder, and reconstitution starts a new and much shorter clock.

Which practice belongs to correct cold-chain handling of vaccines stored in a refrigerator at 2-8 °C?

• a.Keep vaccines in the refrigerator door, the easiest place to reach in a busy clinic
• b.Record the temperature once a week and adjust the thermostat as needed
• c.Keep water bottles out of the unit so that air can circulate freely
• d.Keep vaccines in the center of the unit with a continuous temperature log✓

Refrigerated vaccines belong in the middle of the storage unit, away from walls, vents, floor and door, with a digital data logger recording continuously so any excursion is detected. The door is the tempting spot because it is convenient, but it is the warmest and least stable part of the unit; water bottles are actually encouraged in the door and empty bins, since they buffer the temperature when the door is opened.

A patient is dispensed NPH insulin, a cloudy suspension. How should the vial be prepared before each dose?

• a.Draw the dose without mixing, since the particles redissolve in the syringe
• b.Shake the vial hard for about ten seconds until the liquid looks uniform
• c.Gently roll the vial between the palms✓
• d.Warm the vial under hot running water before drawing the dose

NPH is a suspension whose particles settle, so it is resuspended by gently rolling or tipping the vial until the liquid is evenly cloudy. Vigorous shaking is the tempting choice because it clearly mixes the vial, but it froths the insulin and can clump the protein, which makes an accurate dose hard to draw, and hot water is never used to warm insulin.

A prescription is written for Lamictal. Which product is the classic look-alike/sound-alike that could be selected in error?

• a.Lantus (insulin glargine)
• b.Levaquin (levofloxacin)
• c.Lamisil (terbinafine)✓
• d.Lanoxin (digoxin)

Lamictal (lamotrigine, an anticonvulsant and mood stabilizer) and Lamisil (terbinafine, an oral antifungal) share their first four letters and appear together on published confused-drug-name lists, which is why many pharmacies separate them on the shelf and confirm the indication. Lanoxin is the tempting distractor because it also begins with 'La' and is a narrow-therapeutic-index drug, but it shares only the first two letters with Lamictal, while Lamisil shares four and is the name paired with Lamictal on those lists.

A patient taking simvastatin asks whether grapefruit juice is a problem. What is correct?

• a.Grapefruit juice speeds elimination of the drug, so the dose must be doubled
• b.Grapefruit juice raises simvastatin levels and should be avoided✓
• c.Grapefruit juice binds the tablet in the gut and blocks absorption
• d.Only the juice matters; eating the whole fruit is safe

Grapefruit juice inhibits intestinal CYP3A4, so more simvastatin survives into the bloodstream and the risk of muscle toxicity rises; the same warning applies to lovastatin and to several calcium channel blockers. The furanocoumarins responsible are in the fruit itself, so eating grapefruit segments counts the same as drinking the juice, which is why limiting the warning to the juice is wrong. The 'speeds elimination' claim reverses the mechanism, since inhibiting the enzyme raises drug levels rather than lowering them, and grapefruit does not bind the tablet in the gut the way an antacid or a binding resin does.

A patient is starting phenelzine, a monoamine oxidase inhibitor. Which dietary counseling is essential?

• a.Avoid tyramine-rich foods such as aged cheese, cured meats and tap beer✓
• b.Avoid bananas and citrus fruit, the main sources of tyramine
• c.Avoid grapefruit juice, which raises the drug level
• d.Avoid dark green leafy vegetables, which reverse the drug's effect

MAO inhibitors block the enzyme that normally breaks tyramine down, so a tyramine load can release a surge of norepinephrine and cause a hypertensive crisis with severe headache and dangerously high blood pressure. Tyramine forms as protein ages, so the foods that matter are the aged, cured, fermented, smoked or spoiled ones - aged cheese, dry sausage, sauerkraut, soy sauce, tap beer - while fresh fruit such as bananas and oranges is not a significant source, which makes that list tempting but wrong. The leafy-green warning is the vitamin K counseling that belongs to warfarin, and grapefruit juice is a CYP3A4 issue unrelated to monoamine oxidase.

How should a patient take levothyroxine so that absorption stays consistent?

• a.With breakfast and a calcium supplement, so the stomach is not empty
• b.With a full glass of milk each morning
• c.At bedtime together with the evening iron tablet
• d.On an empty stomach with water, 30 to 60 minutes before breakfast✓

Levothyroxine is absorbed best from an empty stomach, so it is taken with water 30 to 60 minutes before the first food of the day, and calcium, iron and antacids are separated by about four hours because they bind it. Taking it with breakfast is the tempting choice since it helps patients remember, but food, and calcium in particular, cuts the amount absorbed and destabilizes the TSH the dose was titrated to.

A patient stabilized on warfarin asks about eating salad and spinach. What is the correct advice?

• a.Keep vitamin K intake steady from week to week rather than eliminating it✓
• b.Stop eating all green vegetables while on warfarin, because vitamin K cancels the drug
• c.Eat as much leafy green as possible to balance the blood thinner
• d.Take an extra dose on any day with a large salad

The warfarin dose is titrated against the patient's usual vitamin K intake, so steadiness is what protects the INR; big swings in either direction destabilize it. Cutting out greens entirely is the tempting advice because vitamin K really does oppose warfarin, but a sudden drop pushes the INR up and raises bleeding risk just as a sudden increase pushes it down toward clotting. Loading up on greens and adding a dose because of one meal are dangerous for the same reason: the dose is changed by the prescriber on the basis of an INR, not by the patient on the basis of dinner.

Which product may a customer buy in a United States pharmacy without a prescription?

• a.Montelukast 10 mg tablets (Singulair)
• b.Albuterol HFA inhaler (Ventolin)
• c.Loratadine 10 mg tablets✓
• d.Promethazine 25 mg tablets

Loratadine 10 mg is a second-generation antihistamine sold over the counter as Claritin and store brands. Montelukast is the tempting choice because allergy products are often OTC, but it is an oral leukotriene modifier available only by prescription. Albuterol inhalers are prescription-only in the United States, and promethazine tablets are prescription-only as well.

A customer wants an oral antihistamine for seasonal allergies that is least likely to cause drowsiness. Which is the best choice?

• a.Chlorpheniramine maleate (Chlor-Trimeton)
• b.Fexofenadine (Allegra)✓
• c.Diphenhydramine (Benadryl)
• d.Cetirizine hydrochloride (Zyrtec)

Fexofenadine is a second-generation H1 antihistamine that crosses the blood-brain barrier poorly, so it is the one labeled non-drowsy. Cetirizine is the genuinely close call: it is also second-generation, but it is the second-generation agent most associated with sedation and its labeling carries a drowsiness warning, so it is not the best answer when the customer's stated priority is staying alert. Diphenhydramine and chlorpheniramine are first-generation antihistamines that cause sedation plus anticholinergic effects such as dry mouth and urinary retention.

Percocet tablets contain which two active ingredients?

• a.Tramadol with acetaminophen
• b.Oxycodone with aspirin
• c.Oxycodone with acetaminophen✓
• d.Hydrocodone with acetaminophen

Percocet is oxycodone with acetaminophen, and its strength is written as the two ingredients together, for example 5/325 mg. Oxycodone with aspirin is the closest trap: it is the same opioid combined with aspirin instead, it is sold as Percodan, and that brand name differs from Percocet by two letters. Hydrocodone with acetaminophen is sold as Norco or Lortab, and tramadol with acetaminophen is Ultracet.

A prescription calls for a 0.125 mg dose. The tablets on hand are labeled 250 mcg. How much is one dose?

• a.One-half tablet✓
• b.Two tablets
• c.One-quarter tablet
• d.One tablet

Convert the units first: 0.125 mg x 1,000 mcg/mg = 125 mcg. Then 125 mcg divided by 250 mcg per tablet = 0.5 tablet. Checking it the other way round, 250 mcg = 0.25 mg and 0.125 mg divided by 0.25 mg = 0.5, the same answer. Two tablets comes from dividing in the wrong direction, 250 divided by 125; a whole tablet comes from assuming 0.125 mg and 250 mcg are the same amount; a quarter tablet comes from moving the decimal one place too far and treating the order as 62.5 mcg. Because the tablet on hand is larger than the dose ordered, the answer has to be less than one whole tablet.

A prescription is transmitted to the pharmacy carrying the code DAW 1. What does that code communicate?

• a.The patient asked for the brand-name product even though substitution was allowed.
• b.State law requires the brand-name product for this drug.
• c.The prescriber has required that the brand-name product be dispensed.✓
• d.The pharmacist selected the product that was dispensed.

DAW 1 records the prescriber's own instruction that no substitution be made, so the brand must be dispensed. The state-law wording describes DAW 7, which is used when a brand product is mandated by law rather than chosen by the prescriber; a patient's request for the brand is DAW 2; and pharmacist product selection is DAW 3.

What is an authorized generic?

• a.A generic approved under an abbreviated application after the brand's patent expired.
• b.An imported version of the brand product sold at a lower price.
• c.The first generic to reach the market after a successful patent challenge, during its exclusivity period.
• d.The brand-name product itself, marketed without the brand name on the label under the innovator's own FDA approval.✓

An authorized generic is the brand-name product itself, sold without the brand name under the innovator's own application, so no abbreviated application and no separate bioequivalence study are involved. The ordinary generic is the tempting choice, but that is a different manufacturer's product approved through an abbreviated application. The first generic to win exclusivity after a patent challenge is also an abbreviated-application product, and the brand company often launches an authorized generic precisely to compete with it during that exclusivity.

A biologic has been designated by the FDA as an interchangeable biosimilar. What does that designation permit?

• a.It has been shown to be chemically identical to the reference biologic, not merely highly similar.
• b.It may be substituted at the pharmacy without prescriber intervention, where state law allows.✓
• c.It may be dispensed only after the prescriber authorizes the change.
• d.It carries an AB therapeutic-equivalence rating in the FDA's Orange Book.

Interchangeability is the additional standard that permits substitution at the pharmacy without contacting the prescriber, subject to state pharmacy law; a biosimilar without that designation does not carry the same permission, which is why requiring prescriber authorization is the tempting answer. Biosimilars are highly similar rather than chemically identical, and licensed biologics are listed in the Purple Book, not the Orange Book.

Two products are pharmaceutical equivalents, but the FDA has not rated them therapeutically equivalent. What does that tell the technician?

• a.They have the same active ingredient, strength and dosage form, but bioequivalence has not been established.✓
• b.The FDA has compared the two products in a study and concluded that they are not bioequivalent to each other.
• c.They contain different active ingredients that are used for the same indication.
• d.They are made by the same company at two different plants.

Pharmaceutical equivalence covers the same active ingredient, strength, dosage form and route; therapeutic equivalence adds proof of bioequivalence, so a pharmaceutically equivalent product without that proof is not automatically substitutable. The tempting answer is that the FDA studied the pair and found them not bioequivalent — that does happen, but an unrated product may equally be one for which the data are simply insufficient, so all the technician may conclude is that equivalence has not been established.

A vial is labeled epinephrine 1:1000. Expressed as a metric concentration, what does that ratio strength mean?

• a.1 mg/mL✓
• b.10 mg/mL
• c.0.1 mg/mL
• d.1 mcg/mL

For a solution, a ratio strength means grams of drug in that number of milliliters: 1:1000 is 1 g in 1,000 mL = 1,000 mg in 1,000 mL = 1 mg/mL. The other three values are the concentrations of other ratios. 0.1 mg/mL is 1:10,000, that is 1 g in 10,000 mL — a different epinephrine presentation, which is why the two labels must never be read interchangeably. 10 mg/mL would be 1:100, and 1 mcg/mL would be 1:1,000,000. All four options are bare values of similar length, so nothing about their wording favors one over another.

A technician dissolves 25 g of a drug in enough water to make 500 mL of finished solution. What is the percentage strength (w/v)?

• a.0.05% w/v
• b.25% w/v
• c.5% w/v✓
• d.2.5% w/v

Percentage strength w/v is grams of solute per 100 mL: 25 g ÷ 500 mL = 0.05 g/mL, and 0.05 g/mL × 100 mL = 5 g per 100 mL, so the solution is 5% w/v. Checked the other way, 5% w/v means 5 g per 100 mL, which in 500 mL is 5 × 5 = 25 g. The wrong values each come from a specific slip: 0.05% is the grams per 500 mL read as a percentage, which is 100 times too dilute; 25% is simply the number of grams in the container; and 2.5% comes from dividing the 25 g by 1,000 mL, as though a full liter had been prepared.

Approximately how much sodium does one liter of 0.9% sodium chloride injection contain?

• a.77 mEq
• b.130 mEq
• c.154 mEq✓
• d.513 mEq

0.9% w/v means 0.9 g per 100 mL, or 9 g of sodium chloride per liter; 9 g ÷ 58.5 g per mole ≈ 0.154 mole, which gives roughly 154 mEq of sodium and 154 mEq of chloride per liter. Every other value is a real figure for a different fluid, which is what makes them tempting: 77 mEq is the sodium in a liter of 0.45% (half-normal) saline and is the hardest to resist because it is exactly half; 130 mEq is the sodium in lactated Ringer's; and 513 mEq is the sodium in a liter of 3% sodium chloride.

An order calls for 0.4 mg of a drug. The vial on the shelf is labeled 400 mcg/mL. What volume contains the ordered dose?

• a.0.4 mL
• b.0.1 mL
• c.10 mL
• d.1 mL✓

0.4 mg × 1,000 mcg/mg = 400 mcg, and 400 mcg ÷ 400 mcg/mL = 1 mL. Checked the other way, 1 mL of a 400 mcg/mL vial delivers 400 mcg = 0.4 mg. The 0.4 mL value is the trap: it comes from using the milligram number as the volume, as though the vial were labeled 1 mg/mL. Drawing 0.1 mL would deliver only 40 mcg, and the 10 mL value comes from mistakenly converting 0.4 mg to 4,000 mcg.

A potassium chloride oral solution is labeled 20 mEq per 15 mL. A dose of 40 mEq is ordered. What volume should be measured?

• a.60 mL
• b.30 mL✓
• c.15 mL
• d.7.5 mL

The solution supplies 20 mEq in each 15 mL, so 40 mEq is two of those volumes: 40 ÷ 20 = 2, and 2 × 15 mL = 30 mL. Checked by concentration, 20 mEq ÷ 15 mL = 1.33 mEq/mL, and 40 mEq ÷ 1.33 mEq/mL = 30 mL. The 60 mL value doubles the volume a second time by pairing 15 mL with 10 mEq instead of 20 mEq; 15 mL is one labeled dose volume and would give only 20 mEq; and 7.5 mL is half the labeled volume, which would give 10 mEq.

A vial of powdered antibiotic directs the technician to add 4.5 mL of diluent, and states that the resulting solution measures 5 mL. Why is the final volume larger than the volume of diluent added?

• a.The label rounds the 4.5 mL of diluent up to 5 mL for convenience.
• b.Air injected into the vial adds to the volume.
• c.The diluent expands as the vial warms to room temperature during mixing.
• d.The dry powder itself occupies volume once it dissolves.✓

Final volume equals diluent volume plus the space the powder occupies once dissolved — its powder volume, or displacement — which is why the label gives both numbers and why the concentration must be calculated from the 5 mL final volume, not the 4.5 mL of diluent. Two competing explanations are worth weighing: thermal expansion is real but warming a few milliliters of water changes its volume by a negligible amount, far too little to account for 0.5 mL, and the label is not rounding, since it deliberately states the two volumes separately because the difference matters to the concentration. Air injected to equalize pressure does not add to the liquid volume.

A vial containing 1 g of powdered antibiotic is reconstituted to a final volume of 4 mL. What volume delivers a 250 mg dose?

• a.0.25 mL
• b.4 mL
• c.1 mL✓
• d.0.4 mL

1 g = 1,000 mg in 4 mL, so the reconstituted concentration is 1,000 ÷ 4 = 250 mg/mL, and 250 mg ÷ 250 mg/mL = 1 mL. Checked the other way, 1 mL of a 250 mg/mL solution contains 250 mg. Drawing the whole 4 mL is the dangerous error — it would deliver the full 1,000 mg, four times the ordered dose. The 0.25 mL value comes from reading 250 mg as a quarter of a milliliter, and 0.4 mL from dividing the 4 mL by 10.

A technician must blend 50 mg of a potent powdered drug uniformly into 100 g of ointment base. Which description matches geometric dilution?

• a.Add the whole 100 g of base to the drug at once and mix vigorously until the color of the mixture looks uniform.
• b.Mix the drug with an approximately equal amount of base, then keep doubling the quantity of base added and mixing until all of it is incorporated.✓
• c.Divide the base into ten equal portions and add one portion at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.
• d.Wet the drug with a small amount of mineral oil to form a smooth paste, then stir that paste into the base.

Geometric dilution keeps the two quantities being combined roughly equal at every step, which is what makes a very small amount of potent drug distribute evenly through a much larger mass. Wetting the drug with mineral oil is levigation, a genuine technique but one that reduces particle size rather than guaranteeing uniform distribution; adding equal tenths of the base is the closest imitation but the first addition already overwhelms the 50 mg of drug with 10 g of base; and adding all the base at once leaves pockets of concentrated drug.

Before incorporating a gritty powdered drug into an ointment base, a technician grinds it in a mortar with a few drops of mineral oil. What is this step called?

• a.Levigation✓
• b.Geometric dilution
• c.Trituration
• d.Fusion

Levigation is the reduction of particle size by grinding a powder together with a small amount of a liquid in which the drug is not soluble — here, mineral oil as the levigating agent. Trituration is the closest competitor because it also reduces particle size by grinding, but it is done on the dry powder; the added liquid is exactly what makes this levigation. Geometric dilution is a mixing sequence rather than a grinding step, and fusion melts the components together.

Why is a compounded nonsterile preparation given a beyond-use date rather than the expiration date printed on the manufacturer's stock bottle?

• a.It is the last day the pharmacy may dispense the preparation, though the patient may keep using it afterward.
• b.The beyond-use date is simply the earliest expiration date printed on any of the ingredients used in the preparation.
• c.The manufacturer's expiration date applies only to the unopened original container, and the stability of the newly compounded preparation has not been tested.✓
• d.A beyond-use date is always shorter than an expiration date because compounded preparations are less pure than manufactured ones.

An expiration date is supported by the manufacturer's stability testing of that exact product in that exact container; once the drug is combined into a new preparation that testing no longer applies, so a beyond-use date is assigned instead. The earliest expiration among the ingredients is the tempting answer because it genuinely caps the dating, but it is a ceiling on the beyond-use date rather than the reason one exists. A beyond-use date usually is shorter than a manufacturer's expiration date, but that reflects untested stability of the new preparation, not any assumption that compounded products are impure; and it is the date beyond which the preparation should not be used, not merely a last day to dispense it.USP <795>

An intravenous order specifies D5NS. Which solution does that abbreviation name?

• a.5% dextrose in 0.45% sodium chloride
• b.5% dextrose in sterile water with no added sodium
• c.5% dextrose in 0.9% sodium chloride✓
• d.5% dextrose in lactated Ringer's solution

NS stands for normal saline, which is 0.9% sodium chloride, so D5NS is 5% dextrose in 0.9% sodium chloride. The 0.45% version is the tempting near-miss: that is half-normal saline, written D5 1/2NS, so reading NS loosely as any saline concentration would halve the sodium the patient receives. Dextrose in sterile water alone is D5W, and dextrose in lactated Ringer's is written D5LR.

Which statement correctly describes lactated Ringer's solution?

• a.A hypertonic electrolyte solution given to raise serum sodium quickly in symptomatic hyponatremia.
• b.An isotonic crystalloid containing sodium, potassium, calcium, chloride and lactate.✓
• c.A protein-containing colloid used to expand plasma volume.
• d.Sodium chloride 0.9% to which the manufacturer has added 5% dextrose.

Lactated Ringer's is an isotonic electrolyte (crystalloid) solution, and its calcium content is the reason it is incompatible with some drugs that plain saline tolerates. Hypertonic sodium chloride, not lactated Ringer's, is the fluid used to raise serum sodium quickly; 0.9% sodium chloride with 5% dextrose added is D5NS; and a protein-containing volume expander such as albumin is a colloid, a different category of fluid altogether.

Why are strongly hypertonic intravenous solutions usually infused through a central venous catheter rather than a small arm vein?

• a.They irritate the lining of small peripheral veins and can cause phlebitis.✓
• b.The high osmolarity would pull water out of red blood cells and make them shrink.
• c.A peripheral vein cannot deliver the flow rate that a hypertonic solution requires.
• d.A hypertonic solution must be given by pump, which peripheral lines lack.

A solution far more concentrated than blood inflames the wall of a small vein and can cause phlebitis and thrombosis, whereas the rapid blood flow through a large central vein dilutes it almost immediately. Two distractors deserve weighing: red cells do shrink transiently in a hypertonic solution, but that happens wherever the solution is infused and is not what limits peripheral use — damage to the vein wall is. Flow rate is the other tempting alternative, but peripheral lines can run quickly and can be run on the same infusion pumps, so neither achievable rate nor pump availability drives the choice of access.

A technician repackages tablets from a bulk bottle into unit-dose blisters for a hospital's automated cabinets. What must the repackaged label carry at a minimum?

• a.The drug name and strength, a lot or control number, and a beyond-use date.✓
• b.The drug name and strength only; the lot number stays in the log.
• c.The patient's name, prescription number and directions for use, as on a dispensed label.
• d.Only the manufacturer's original expiration date, copied unchanged.

A repackaged unit-dose label has to identify the product and let it be traced and dated: drug name and strength, a lot or control number tying it back to the source container, and a beyond-use date for the new package. Keeping the lot number only in the repackaging log is the tempting answer, but a single blister found in a cabinet has to be traceable on its own when a recall lands. The original expiration date does not carry over to a new container, and a patient name and directions belong on a dispensed prescription label, not on floor stock repackaged in advance for whichever patient later needs it.

A pharmacy sets a par level for each fast-moving product. What does the par level represent?

• a.The number of times the pharmacy's whole inventory is sold and replaced in a year.
• b.The largest quantity of a product the pharmacy is permitted to keep on hand.
• c.The stock quantity at which the product is reordered.✓
• d.The quantity ordered on each purchase order.

A par level is the on-hand quantity that triggers an order, so routine purchasing keeps the shelf between the par level and the intended maximum. Counting how often the whole inventory is sold and replaced in a year is the turnover rate — a related and tempting choice, but it measures how hard the money in inventory is working rather than when to reorder a single item. How much to buy each time is the order quantity, a separate decision from the level that triggers the order, and nothing caps how much of an ordinary product a pharmacy may keep on hand.

A pharmacy rotates stock using first-expired-first-out. How does that differ from shelving by the date each package was received?

• a.The package with the earliest expiration date is placed in front, even if it arrived later.✓
• b.Short-dated stock is moved to the back so it is not dispensed by mistake.
• c.Packages are arranged by lot number so recalls can be pulled quickly.
• d.The package that arrived first is always placed in front, regardless of its expiration date.

First-expired-first-out shelves stock by expiration date, so a box received today that expires in three months goes in front of one received last month that expires in a year. Ordering by arrival date is first-in-first-out, the closest competitor: it usually gives the same result, but it fails exactly when a newer shipment carries the shorter dating. Moving short-dated stock to the back guarantees it will expire unused, and arranging by lot number helps with recalls but does nothing about dating.

A pharmacy's vaccine refrigerator is found in the morning reading outside its required temperature range. What should be done with the vaccine inside?

• a.Discard every dose at once, because any temperature excursion makes vaccine unusable.
• b.Mark it 'do not use', keep it stored properly, and seek viability guidance.✓
• c.Put it back into routine use as soon as the refrigerator holds the correct temperature.
• d.Move it to the freezer until the refrigerator has been repaired.

Vaccine exposed to an out-of-range temperature is separated and labeled so nobody administers it, but it is not automatically thrown away — the manufacturer or the immunization program decides whether the exposure has affected it. Simply resuming use once the temperature recovers is the tempting shortcut, but it ignores the exposure that has already happened; discarding everything immediately wastes doses that may still be viable; and a freezer is not an approved storage condition for a refrigerated vaccine.

The pharmacy receives a Class I recall notice naming specific lot numbers of an injectable product. What is the pharmacy's immediate responsibility?

• a.Wait for the wholesaler to collect the recalled product on its next scheduled delivery run.
• b.Notify the FDA in writing that the recalled lot was received.
• c.Identify and immediately quarantine every unit of the affected lots still in the pharmacy.✓
• d.Remove every strength and lot of that drug from the shelves, whatever the lot number.

A Class I recall means use of the product could cause serious harm or death, and the pharmacy's first job is to find the named lots and take them out of dispensable stock before another dose reaches a patient. Pulling every lot of the drug is the tempting over-correction: it is not what the notice requires and it creates a shortage of product that is still safe to dispense. Waiting for the wholesaler leaves the recalled units in reach of a dispensing error, and the recalling firm, not each pharmacy, reports back to the FDA.

Which FDA resource lists licensed biological products, including biosimilar and interchangeable products?

• a.The Orange Book, the therapeutic-equivalence list
• b.The Green Book, the animal-drug approval list
• c.The Purple Book✓
• d.The Red Book

Licensed biologics, including biosimilars and interchangeable biosimilars, are listed in the Purple Book. The Orange Book is the closest competitor because it is also an FDA listing used for substitution decisions, but it covers drugs approved under new and abbreviated drug applications and carries the therapeutic-equivalence codes; the Green Book is the FDA's animal-drug listing; and the Red Book is a commercial drug-pricing reference rather than an approval list.

A technician needs to know whether two injectable drugs may be combined in the same intravenous solution. Which reference is built to answer that question?

• a.The FDA Orange Book, which rates therapeutic equivalence
• b.The Red Book
• c.The USP-NF, which sets identity and purity standards
• d.Trissel's Handbook on Injectable Drugs✓

Trissel's Handbook on Injectable Drugs is the standard compatibility and stability reference for parenteral products, tabulating which injectables can share a syringe or a bag and for how long. The USP-NF is the tempting alternative because it is also an official standard, but it defines identity, strength, quality and purity — it does not tabulate drug-to-drug admixture compatibility. The Orange Book rates therapeutic equivalence for substitution, and the Red Book is a pricing reference.

A drug is described as having a half-life of about six hours. What does half-life measure?

• a.The time from administration until the drug first begins to produce an effect.
• b.The time for the plasma concentration to fall by half.✓
• c.The fraction of an oral dose that reaches the systemic circulation.
• d.The length of time the drug's effect lasts after a single dose.

Half-life is the time required for the amount of drug in the plasma to drop to 50% of its previous value, which is what shapes the dosing interval and how long a drug takes to clear. The time until an effect first appears is onset and how long the effect lasts is duration — both describe the patient's response rather than the fall in drug concentration, and the fraction of an oral dose reaching the circulation is bioavailability.