The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 272 No 7302 p721
5 June 2004

Society summary

An occasional feature, prepared in the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Professional Standards Directorate, to highlight problems and inquiries currently being handled

Law and Ethics Bulletin, 2001 to present
See also Good Practice Points, 2003 to present

Storage of medicines by patients

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society has recently had cause to investigate concerns that a supply of paracetamol elixir contained fragments of glass. The patient had stored the elixir in a refrigerator since its dispensing some 12 months earlier. Further investigation indicated that the “contaminant” was not glass but, almost certainly, crystallised paracetamol.

Pharmacists are reminded of the importance of ensuring that patients are counselled on the appropriate storage of medicinal products supplied to them, in order that products are stored in conditions suited to the nature and stability of the product.