The writing on the transparent bag clearly showed that the medicine had expired long ago. It is alarming that such medicine would appear in a hospital pharmacy. This photo was taken by our reporter Cui Jing. On the morning of the 24th, Liu Yanting, who was unconscious, was receiving an IV drip at a hospital in the provincial capital. When his family prepared to change his medicine, they discovered that the IV bag clearly stated "Valid until: January 15, 2012."
"How can medicine that expired over a month ago be administered into my body?" Yesterday morning, Liu Yanting, still bedridden, spoke with deep sorrow about the incident.
The infusion was almost finished when it was discovered to have expired 39 days ago.
Yesterday morning, in the ward of a hospital in the provincial capital, I met Liu Yanting, who was still lying in bed. Liu Yanting told me that on the evening of the 23rd, he suddenly fell ill and became unconscious, and was rushed to the emergency room of the hospital by his family. He then stayed for treatment. At around 6 a.m. on the 24th, Liu Yanting's son-in-law noticed that the glucose solution in the IV bag was almost gone, so he stood up to prepare to change it. When he picked up the IV bag, he suddenly exclaimed in surprise: "This medicine has expired!"
Yesterday, I saw this bag of expired glucose solution. On the transparent plastic bag, there were two clear red lines marked: "Production date: January 16, 2010, Valid until: January 15, 2012." The medical billing slip showed that Liu Yanting received the IV on February 23rd.
"It expired 39 days ago, how could it still be given to patients?" For this, Liu Yanting's son and son-in-law were extremely dissatisfied.
Patient: Who will be responsible if problems arise from administering expired medicine?
After discovering the expired glucose solution, Liu Yanting's son and son-in-law went to the pharmacy to inquire about the situation. "The pharmacy said we needed it urgently, and they only had one box left 'of this', so they gave us 'this'." Yesterday morning, Liu Yanting's son pointed to the expired glucose solution and said.
It is understood that after the hospital learned on the 24th that Liu Yanting had been given expired medicine, they immediately sent him to the observation room.
"After observing for 24 hours, they sent me back to the regular ward," Liu Yanting said. Although he currently feels no discomfort, he is still worried about potential side effects from the expired medicine. He told reporters that during the IV administration on the 24th, he was still unconscious and wouldn't have felt any discomfort even if it occurred.
"How could expired medicine be administered into my body?" Liu Yanting asked. "Even if there are no issues now, who will be responsible if problems arise in the future?"
Hospital: No harm to the body, already apologized to the family
In the afternoon of yesterday, I contacted the head of the hospital's doctor-patient relationship office. The head admitted: "The hospital indeed gave the patient expired glucose solution; it was the hospital's mistake."
According to the head, after the incident occurred, the hospital immediately observed Liu Yanting and found no adverse reactions. "On the day of the incident, I personally represented the hospital and apologized to the patient's family," the head said.
Regarding Liu Yanting's concerns, the head explained that glucose solution isn't truly a medication and has no therapeutic effect, "It's just used to dissolve medications, its component being enzymes, which do not accumulate in the body and metabolize quickly, thus posing no harm to the body."
Management oversight, relevant responsible persons have been dealt with
However, regardless of whether it poses harm to the body, the appearance of expired medicine in the hospital ward itself is alarming.
"This is all due to inadequate implementation of regulations and loopholes in hospital management," the head said. The hospital stipulates that medicines should generally be sent to the drug recycling area three months before their expiration date for disposal, "This time, some people lacked a sense of responsibility and did not strictly follow the rules, leading to the occurrence of giving patients expired medicine."
"Fortunately, this time it was only glucose solution; if it had been other expired medicine, serious consequences might have ensued," the head informed that in response to this incident, the hospital held a special meeting, ordering the director of the pharmaceutical equipment department to suspend work for inspection, and imposing deductions of one to three months of performance wages for the healthcare workers involved in dispensing the medicine.
At the same time, the hospital has formulated relevant measures to strictly prevent similar incidents from happening again.
Written by our reporter Cheng Guochang