E-drug: Expired-shelf life medicines (cont)
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In emergency situations where the choice is between no drug and expired
drugs. It is a good practise if facilities are available to test expired
drugs for their physical characteristics potency and presence of
degradation products. In my experience when I was developing
analytical methods for degradation products in England I discovered
that some of the products although expired according to the label had
potency which was within the pharmacopoeial limits.. In cases where
no facilities are available for testing of 'expired' pharmaceuticals
then the best course of action would be to throw them away if the
literature shows that the degradation products
produced are dangerous to human health and the disadvantages will
outweigh the therapeutic effects.
Dr Irfan Michael Roy
Private Pharmaceutical Company
Pakistan
"Irfan Michael Roy" <imderoy@super.net.pk>
[Where there are drugs already in a program that are recently
expired, it may be expedient to test and use these drugs until new
drugs arrive rather than have no drugs. For example it is important
not to interrupt TB treatment and it might be necessary to continue
to use recently expired TB drugs so long as their potency is assured,
until new stock arrives. This emergency process does not provide a
place for newly donated expired drugs. BS]
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