Scary read - Vet offices may be using expired medications

[squeem3]

The Masschusetts Board of Registration came out with a press release today about the findings from a recent unannounced random inspections to numerous vet hospitals and clincs in the state. Of the 104 hospitals/clinics inspected, 20 were found to have violations relating to using expired medications and/or improperly storing controlled substance mediciations :shock: http://www.mass.gov/ocabr/press-releases/20120222-dpl-vt.html There's a downloadable file of all the places inspected and the violations found, if any.

Kind of scary to think that a vet may be using expired medications to treat a pet

 

[Jiolo]

Re: Scary read - Vet offices may be using expired medication

I learned somewhere (long time ago) that expiration dates doesn't necessarily mean that the product has gone bad, just that the company selling it can't sell it or use it. How a manufacturing company comes up with these expiration dates is they test the product for X amount of time (example: 3 years). If, after that testing period, the product is still good they simply stop testing it and slap that time period as the expiration date.

Now, I don't condone vets using expired medication because it IS against the law. And one simply can't know how potent a drug is past the expiration date. People are depending on the vets to give them medications that actually have their effects.

As a random example, I have a bottle of Alprazolam tablets for my pup to alleviate his anxiety on garbage truck days. According to the label, it expired 2 years ago, but its effects on my dog doesn't seem to have changed at all.

 

[BJM]

Re: Scary read - Vet offices may be using expired medication

A concern about expiration date is that the chemical may have changed into something ineffective ... or potentially toxic.

Time for all of us to go clean out out medicine cabinets!