Hazardous drugs

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In pharmacology, hazardous drugs are drugs that are known to cause harm, which may or may not include genotoxicity (the ability to cause a change or mutation in genetic material). Genotoxicity might involve carcinogenicity, the ability to cause cancer in animal models, humans or both; teratogenicity, which is the ability to cause defects on fetal development or fetal malformation; and lastly hazardous drugs are known to have the potential to cause fertility impairment, which is a major concern for most clinicians.^[1] These drugs can be classified as antineoplastics, cytotoxic agents, biologic agents, antiviral agents and immunosuppressive agents. This is why safe handling of hazardous drugs is crucial.