Contaminated drugs

Patients place their trust in pharmacists to do and know things that they themselves do not understand. Patients trust pharmacists, whereas both state law and federal law provide additional layers of protection to shield the public from dangerous and/or contaminated drugs and from dangerous and/or dishonest professionals. As with any system, though, it can be breached. Consider how Courtney accomplished his deception. 

In 1997, it was estimated that 30 million adults were infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) worldwide, with increments of five people infected every minute. It is estimated that approximately 7% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa has been infected. The incubation of the disease is 7 to 8 years. Currently available drugs for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and HIV are zidovudine, didanosine, lamivudine, and stavudine. The causative agent for AIDS is generally an HIV virus, which is transmitted by sexual contact, blood and blood products, the use of contaminated drug needles, and from mother to fetus. 

AOAC. 1990. Association of Official Analytical Chemists. Agricultural chemicals contaminants drugs. Pesticides and industrial chemical residues. 1 274-280. 

S. G. Capar, "Metals and other elements at trace levels in foods", Official Methods of Analysis of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Vol. 1 Agricultural Chemicals Contaminants Drugs, 15 Edition, AOAC Inc., Arlington, VA, Chapter 9, p. 237 (1990). 

Patient death or serious disability associated with the use of contaminated drugs, devices or biologies provided by the healthcare facility ... 

Currently, air and water contaminants, drugs in the human body, and pesticide residues are measured in parts per million. 

Orga.nic Colora.nts. The importance of coal-tar colorants cannot be overemphasized. The cosmetic industry, in cooperation with the FDA, has spent a great deal of time and money in efforts to estabUsh the safety of these dyes (see Colorants for food, drugs, cosmetics, and medical devices). Contamination, especially by heavy metals, and other impurities arising from the synthesis of permitted dyes are stricdy controlled. Despite this effort, the number of usable organic dyes and of pigments derived from them has been drastically curtailed by regulatory action. 

J. P. Hickey, A. Aldridge, D. R. May Passino, A. M. Frank, Expert System Predicts Aquatic Toxicityfrom Contaminant Chemical Structure,NMoa-A Fisheries Research Center-Great Lakes, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ann Arbor, Mich., 1991 Ibid., Drug Information Journal 26, 487 (1992). 

First of all, in the general part, the supply of herbal drugs and herbal mixtures, the indications and possible treatments, are dealt with, as well as explaining herbal preparations, how to make the lea, storage, and authentication. Short sections are devoted to the Standard Licences and the contamination of drugs (microbiological, heavy metal, fumigation, radioactive substances). 

The richer a plant part is in nutrients and the slower the drying process, the higher the bacterial count of the resulting drug root drugs, which of course are to begin with more heavily contaminated, always have a higher bacterial count than do flowers, for example, which are a less suitable as a nutrient medium. 

Since the disaster with the reactor at Chernobyl in May 1986, the contamination of drugs with radioactive substances has regularly been the subject of research reports. In the meantime, in the Huropean Community, the maximum value has been fixed at 600 Bq/kg, a figure which also guides the drug... 

Process validation should be extended to those steps determined to be critical to the quality and purity of the enantiopure drug. Establishing impurity profiles is an important aspect of process validation. One should consider chemical purity, enantiomeric excess by quantitative assays for impurity profiles, physical characteristics such as particle size, polymorphic forms, moisture and solvent content, and homogeneity. In principle, the SMB process validation should provide conclusive evidence that the levels of contaminants (chemical impurities, enantioenrichment of unwanted enantiomer) is reduced as processing proceeds during the purification process. 

A successful program of quality control also involves maintenance of sanitary conditions and production of products free from adulteration, contamination, and filth. Methods given by the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists (1) should be applied to the finished product to ensure against seizure and prosecution by federal and state food and drug authorities. In many instances such methods of analysis are not adaptable to production-line control and less accurate but more rapid methods must be substituted. With such procedures, more severe tolerances must be used to provide a sufficient margin of safety. 

Plastics are extensively used in medicine to package drugs, ointments, and accessories. Plastics serve to protect medicines, surgical/ clinical equipment, medical materials, etc. from contamination and breakage in many ways, from single-service squeeze packs of cough syrup to carrying cases used to ship human eyes between hospital eye banks. 

Recycled condensate often is of higher quality than FW, although in facilities with extremely long runs of steam and condensate lines, or where amine treatments are not used (e.g., some food processors, hospitals, drug manufacturers, etc.) and in high heat-flux power boiler plants, there is a tendency for the condensate to be contaminated by iron and smaller levels of copper. 

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