RE: [e-drug] Can expired drug still be used? (11)

["robert chana" <chana_robert@yahoo.co.uk>]

E-DRUG:  Can expired drug still be used? (11)
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[Thanks to all E-druggers for a frank discussion. I think we can close it for now! Please try another interesting subject! E-drug is there for you! WB]

Dear All,
 
I would like to mention that the use of expired drugs should be discouraged for in my opinion it falls under Misuse of drugs and so does not meet the pharmacists obligation to protect Public Health.

The patient on the other hand receives expired drugs at the same cost as he would have received the drug had it not expired. This means that the patient has been robbed of his/her money value.

It is very dangerous to talk about using expired drugs in areas where there is abuse/misuse of "good drugs". In areas where pharmacoepidiemology, pharmacovigilance is a dream it is not even advisable to mention the use of expired drugs.

Determining whether the drug maintains its potency aftre expiry is even more difficult than testing the quality of newly fabricated pharmaceuticals yet most countries in the developing would do not do the simple quality assurance tests before accepting the drugs into their market for use.

Conditions that might have been use by quality assurance agencies could have satisfied international standards for packaging etc but who has ever bothered to know whether the packaging material from company X meets the standard for humidity, temperature, and supports/protects for friability.

I would opinion that expired products are expired products and are dangerous to the society and might be use only when a substitute can not be found and only when the benefit of treating the patient with such clearly out weighs the risk of taking the drug.
 
As we generally know that 10% of the potency is lost by the expiry date and also is now known especially for antibacterial agents that this per centage is taken care of by the companies, how would we dose an expired insulin or an expired Nifedipin Sustained Release capsule?
 
Regards to all
 
Chana Chapchet Robert B.Pharm
Pharmacist 
Presbyterian Church In Cameroon
Synod Office
Buea
Cameroon
chana_robert@yahoo.co.uk