'We give patients expired drugs all the time,' says hospital boss

A senior United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) nurse has said there is nothing amiss with administering expired drugs as the hospital often gave them to patients.

This is despite the promulgation of the Drugs control Act that criminalises the practice.

Patricia Malemane Dube, a sister-in-charge at the health institution stunned a packed courtroom when she said: "I don't see anything wrong because we use expired drugs at the hospital, we use the drugs that we would have been given by the pharmacist and even after the Drug Control Act was enacted we are still issuing the drugs to patients."

Dube yesterday appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Tawanda Muchemwa facing a count of unauthorised sell of drugs and another of selling expired drugs.

She allegedly illegally sold expired Amphotericin B drug, which is a prescription drug, to a terminally ill patient for $40.

Only certified pharmacies are allowed to sell the drug to patients with a doctor's prescription.

Dube further shocked the court when she said she "gave" the drug to the patient out of pity as she knew he would not be able to buy it at the official price.

She said the drug could be used up to three months after its expiry date and was therefore safe.

Prosecuting, Busani Moyo said on 3March this year, Singatsho Sikhundla approached Dube on behalf of her husband, Lovemore Tsingano, seeking to fill a prescription for Amphotericin B.

Moyo said Dube sold two 50gram vials of the drug to Sikhundla for $20 each.

A colleague allegedly reported the matter to the hospital's public relations officer Nobuhle Thaba leading to the recovery of the drugs from Singatsho and the two $20 notes that Singatsho had paid her.

The drugs that Dube allegedly sold expired in January this year and she is as a result facing another charge of selling expired drugs.

The magistrate postponed sentencing to 31 July.