The Distribution of Expired Medicines in Impoverished Communities

Megan Jourdan

Date of Award

2007

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Gilchrist, Sandra

Keywords

Expiration Dates, Medicine, Pharmaceutical

Area of Concentration

Biology

Abstract

The distribution of expired medicines to eatients is illegal in both the United States and Mexico, but has recently been observed in both countries where doctors are giving free, expired medicine to patients who can otherwise not afford any. Unfortunately, doctors and patients have little access to scientific research concerning the potency of these medicines and are thus distributing the medicines without guidelines. Concurrently, the United States Military is running the Shelf Life Extension Program, contracting the Food and Drug Administration to conduct stability tests on stockpiles of medicine to determine if the expiration dates are extendable. Many medicines, such as the essential antibiotic Ciprofloxacin, have been found to be extendable at least 10 years past the expiration date otherwise determined by the pharmaceutical company. The entirety of this information has not been released to the public, but that which has indicates that if medicines are kept in their recommended storage conditions, are in solid form, and do not have a small therapeutic index, they may retain their potency past their expiration date. The release of the total information found by the SLEP program could aid in the safe usage of expired medicines, especially in impoverished communities where such medicines are currently being distributed.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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