[ Q&A Home | Contents | Search | Post | Reply | Next | Previous | Up ]
From: Dr. Steve
Password: orange
Date: 10 Jul 2006
Time: 06:59:03 -0700
Remote Name: 66.241.32.160
There have been a few threads here over the years talking about this issue. The bottom line is that you, as an MRO, have to decide what policy you would like to follow, and what you would be willing to defend in front of a judge, i.e. is your policy legally defensible? Every MRO has their own way of doing things when it comes to this issue. I will tell you mine: If the prescription is less than 1 year old, I will take down the prescription information and confirm it with the pharmacy. If the prescription is over a year old, I request that a copy of the original bottle be sent/faxed to us. If the bottle is no longer available, the donor ends up with a positive test. If the bottle is available, then I will downgrade it to a negative.
Although doctors may not advise you to take a prescription that is over a year old (usually the label on the Rx bottle the "use before" date is 1 year after the Rx was filled), it is certainly not against the law to take "expired" medicines.