From:
"Sukie Crandall"
Date: 2008-11-02 16:56:50 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Out of date human medication for animals???
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Expired drugs tend to be useless or unsafe.
It's is not just pets who should not take them
but humans also should not. I had an elderly aunt
and uncle who did this without anyone knowing
until after and both suffered serious neurological
damage. There just are times when it pays to put
up with losing a little money and get rid of things
and expired medications certainly fit that bill.
People forget that the age of the medication is
not just the time they have had it. There will have
been time that it was shelved at the manufacturer,
in distribution, and at the hospital or pharmacy.
Furthermore, other factors affect whether a
medication has altered. I'll share a few of the
things that pharmaceutical experts have shared
here or otherwise taught over the years.
Light is a problem for some meds. Some need
to be shielded. We keep a well cleaned Ovaltine
bottle around because it is brown to help on
that score and people will notice that pharmacies
use opaque or colored bottles for a number of
meds. When we have had syringes of meds that
needed to be protected from light we have put
them into a box or wrapped them in foil.
Some people think that any med will keep better
if it is in the refrigerator. NOT SO! Some meds
should not be stored at those temperatures.
Always check. In your reading you will find the
original bottle, box, or materials which echo them
at the manufacturer's sites or drug information sites
such as those mentioned in past FHL posts and the
FHL Links section:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
and
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/links
Humidity can damage other meds.
Some medications last longer in dry form but once
they have been mixed with water their life-span is limited.
How long they last if they are compounded also
depends on what they have been compounded with.
There are other medication tips in the resources given
above. For example, if a pill or caplet has a cutting line
on it then the medication has been manufactured in a
way that the active ingredients are spread evenly
throughout. It is safe to cut those meds and use segments.
If the medication does not have a line like that then,
being careful to keep the conditions safe ones for the
med, the med must be compounded, or it must be
crushed, mixed very, very well, and measured into the
right size doses, and of course, stored in the right way
for that specific type of med.
Some meds can be given with food. Some can not. Some
can not be given with anything high in certain minerals, for
example ones that bind to calcium. Some can be given with
water, but others are destroyed by exposure to water or
to saliva so if they are given by mouth without a protective
coating in place they can be mixed well with something fatty
enough to shield them until they reach the stomach.
Examples are dietary oils or Nutrical. With meds that may
need to be released more slowly there may not be a good
enough or safe enough oral route to use them for ferrets PO.
Notice, too, that it is illegal in the United States for non-medical
people to ship prescription drugs to each other. You can ship
your own drugs under proper conditions if you are moving or
will be somewhere for an extended time from what I have been
told, but prescription meds, whether for animals or humans
have to shipped only by those who are okayed to do so by
federal law.
Notice that when places like compounding pharmacies ship
they will use special shipping conditions for some meds.
Compounding Pharmacies:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL2598
(includes some very useful links)
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/gM4NSZeJkD06aeDPg-Wxdk3gyCA4R3ltufe6Zd4-
KYLrXXRl6giWpGSzooJS3Ioe3tZajbcMrYrMCUSKvaa0ZQ/comp_pharm.html
and if that second one does not work go to
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/files/
and click open
BEGIN QUOTE
comp_pharm.html
List of compounding pharmacies FHL members have recommended. Most will ship.
Compounding pharmacies are experts in making medications more tasty.
END QUOTE
Notice that there are regular pharmacies which do some compounding but that an
accredited compounding pharmacy will have people who better know
how to compound best, and how to offer medications that are given
by a range of routes, not just oral. The first URL under
"Compounding Pharmacies" above will show you ways
to find such pharmacies.
Some resources found in a Google search (and there are more for
those who want to look):
Notes from vets:
http://vetmedicine.about.com/od/diseasesconditionsfaqs/qt/QT_expireddrugs.htm
http://www.portageanimalhospital.com/
Chemo Drugs Specifically:
http://veterinarynews.dvm360.com/dvm/Medicine/Take-precautions-when-using-
chemotherapeutic-drugs/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/76349
An FDA warning about expired drugs sold as pet meds over the internet:
http://www.fda.gov/consumer/updates/petdrugsonline121407.html
Illegal to use expired drugs on research animals:
http://www.ahc.umn.edu/rar/umnuser/formulary.html
Sukie (not a vet)
Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
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