The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has vowed to use its standards for wholesalers to address issues with pharmacists receiving medicines reaching the end of their shelf-life.

Concerns from pharmacists around the supply of short-dated stock – drugs that could go out of date within the duration of treatment – had emerged from the NPA's consultation on its standards of service for wholesalers. They would "certainly be reflected" in the finished document, it told C+D yesterday (June 24).

Other pharmacy groups and contractors told C+D they had experienced problems with short-dated stock and called for stricter regulations on the shelf-life of medicines.

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	Pharmacy Voice said it had received reports of pharmacists struggling with stock that was close to becoming out of date - in particular contraceptives - and called for these drugs to be supplied on a monthly basis.

Avicenna commercial director Raj Haria said it was common practice for some wholesalers to buy short-dated stock from manufacturers.

The independent support group had an agreement with its wholesalers to flag up any short-dated stock when it was ordered and pharmacists should not be afraid to reject stock that did not meet their requirements, Mr Haria told C+D.

Martin Sawer, executive director of the British Association of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers (BAPW), told C+D that it was "very rare" for a pharmacist to receive short-dated stock. The BAPW had an agreement with the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) that products should have a minimum shelf-life of six months, he stressed.

North East London LPC secretary Hemant Patel said wholesalers should give written assurance that drugs had a shelf-life of at least a year and pharmacists should be "vigilant" when receiving stock.

Surrey pharmacist Vijay Mathani agreed that all stock should have a minimum shelf-life of a year "if not more". Mr Mathani said he had received products with a "short expiry date", including items on the concessionary price list.

One pharmacist, who wished to remain anonymous, said he had been forced to accept contraceptives with a three-month shelf-life from a wholesaler."If [a wholesaler] sends any product with an expiry date of less than a year then the pharmacy should have the option to return it," he told C+D.

However, Brian Austen, director of pharmaceutical consultancy service EPOC Health Limited, told C+D that drugs with a longer shelf-life had a "greater risk" of their formulation becoming unstable due to environmental conditions.

"There is a good argument for quick turnover and as short a shelf-life as possible without endangering patients or wasting drugs," he said.

The NPA's consultation to develop quality standards for wholesalers and "empower" independent pharmacies closed on June 8. The NPA planned to reveal more details about the results of the consultation "in the next few weeks", it told C+D.

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