23 January 2007
The Gauteng Department of Health has completed a preliminary investigation
into reports that expired medicines have been dispensed to a patient at the
Johannesburg Hospital.
The Chief Operating Officer of the Department, Dr Abdul Rahman, says only
one case was found where a patient had received expired medicines. "We checked
the records and this is clearly an isolated incident," he says.
The hospital is in the process of contacting the patient to ensure that the
correct medication is provided. The hospital will further continue to monitor
the patient's condition in the coming weeks, says the Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) of the hospital, Sagie Pillay.
Dr Rahman said the department had initiated disciplinary procedures against
both the pharmacist and the dispensing pharmacist's assistant, who were guilty
of the oversight. The case will also be reported to the South African Pharmacy
Council.
"We sincerely regret the incident," said Dr Rahman. "We have strict policies
and procedures in place throughout all hospitals, clinics and medical
facilities in the province with regards to the storage and dispensing of drugs
and the disposal of expired medicines.
"Although this is an isolated incident we will again ensure that all our
facilities are made aware of these guidelines and instructed to follow them to
the letter," he said.
The Department has appointed a team to investigate the incident and to
report on the state of controls over medicines.
For more information, please contact:
Vusi Sibiya
Cell: 082 330 1085
Howard Ndaba
Cell: 082 334 9851
Issued by: Department of Health, Gauteng Provincial Government
23 January 2007
Source: SAPA
