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Expired Drugs in the Remote Environment.
Emma Browne1, Frank Peeters2, Melanie Priston3
1British Antarctic Survey Medical Unit, Plymouth, UK.
Wilderness & Environmental Medicine
|February 6, 2019
Summary
Expired pharmaceuticals, including atropine and naproxen, remained stable after challenging Antarctic conditions. This suggests potential for extended drug efficacy beyond labeled expiry dates in remote environments.
Area of Science:
- Pharmaceutical stability
- Remote medicine
- Antarctic logistics
Background:
- Antarctic bases face logistical challenges with annual resupply, leading to pharmaceuticals nearing or exceeding expiry.
- Drug transport involves non-temperature-controlled shipping through tropics and extreme cold.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the stability of commonly used expired drugs returned from Antarctic bases.
- To determine if pharmaceutical efficacy is maintained despite harsh storage and transport conditions.
Main Methods:
- Opportunistic collection of five expired drugs: atropine, nifedipine, flucloxacillin, naproxen, and bendroflumethiazide.
- Utilized stability-indicating assays to evaluate drug integrity.
Main Results:
- All five tested expired drugs demonstrated stability.
- No significant degradation was observed in the analyzed pharmaceuticals.
Conclusions:
- The findings suggest that the studied drugs may remain stable beyond their labeled expiry dates.
- This stability holds true even without strict temperature-controlled storage, relevant for remote healthcare settings.
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