Law should allow unused medicines to be used for teaching purposes
Medicines legislation should amended to allow unused products returned in their original packaging to be used for teaching purposes, the branch
representatives' meeting decided.
Proposing a motion to that effect, Peter Sendall (Sunderland) said that
a branch member who works both in the university and in the primary care
trust had noted the amount of waste returned and wondered whether it
could be used in the university’s teaching dispensary. The universities
received some branded products from pharmaceutical companies but spent
thousands of pounds purchasing other medicines. The branch accepted that
the proposal could not extend to Controlled Drugs.
Philip Anson (Eastbourne) suggested that the universities would only
require the containers and not their contents.
Heather Elliston (South East Metropolitan) said that she could see the
point of
the proposal but she was worried about problems caused by counterfeit
products and packaging.
Michael Burden (Leicestershire and Rutland) said that it would be no
bad thing for practice suites to be aware that there are counterfeit
medicines. It would enliven and enlighten the students. He assumed that
the pharmacists responsible for the practice suite would have a responsibility
to ensure that medicines used in this way were safe and not a hazard
to students or surrogate patients. He urged support for the motion.
Summing up, Mr Sendall said that he disagreed with Mr Anson over empty
packets. He had never been able to count tablets in an empty packet.
He agreed with Dr Burden that it would help students if they could examine
counterfeit products — and parallel imports too.
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal