A Dublin chemist's shop was fined £200 yesterday because it had out-of-date medicines on its shelves. A.C. Boles Ltd, South Circular Road, Dolphin's Barn, Dublin, denied the medicines would have been sold or supplied to customers.
Dr William Boles, a director of the firm and a member of the society's governing council, claimed it would have been impossible for the two single containers of tablets to end up in the hands of a customer as they were prescription-only tablets which were always checked before being dispensed.
Dublin District Court heard Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland inspector Mr Dermot McDermott called to the premises on February 4th last year and carried out an examination of most of the medicines on the pharmacy shelves.
He found two products, Prednisone and Zaditen, used in the treatment of skin conditions and asthma, which were out of date by 20 months and three months respectively.
Mr McDermott said if a person had taken these expired medicines it was possible that, because of the deterioration of their main ingredients, they would not work and the sufferer's condition could worsen. There was also the possibility that harmful by-products could have built up within the tablets.
The court heard the tablets were tested by the public analyst who found that neither medicine had deteriorated.
Dr Boles told the court that the medicines in question were "infrequently prescribed" and were just two of around 5,000 preparations provided by the pharmacy.
He added there was no way out-of-date prescription tablets would be given to a member of the public because at the dispensing stage, the "magnifying glass comes out" and dates are thoroughly checked. There were notices reminding staff to make this check.
Judge Brian Kirby said Dr Boles may have felt he was complying with the law by checking dates before medicines were dispensed but errors did occur.
He convicted the company and fined it £100 on each medicine and ordered it to pay £300 costs.
Two other Dublin chemist's shops were convicted yesterday of failing to notify the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland that they had changed pharmacists. The Dame Street Pharmacy Ltd was fined £75 with £250 costs. Walsh's of Harold's Cross was given the Probation Act after the court heard there had been a mix-up due to one of its pharmacists changing her name on being married.