·
Guidance 529-260 Aseptic Rodent Surgery
·
Guideline 529-349 Rodent Anesthesia and
Analgesia
·
Guideline 529-268 for Compounding and Secondary
Container Use for Injectable Drugs
II: Background
The use of expired medical materials, such as sutures,
anesthetics, syringes, fluids, and fluids, and antibiotics, for surgical
survival surgical procedures in animals is unacceptable according to veterinary
medicine ad adequate veterinary care. Items such as sterile gloves, blades, and
other surgical instruments can be used for non-survival procedures and procedures
unrelated to survival surgeries (e.g., expired sterile gloves as exam gloves).
If researchers can utilize expired medical materials, the items should be
appropriately labeled and stored separately from non-expired medical materials.
For acute terminal procedures, expired medical materials may be used if they do
not adversely affect the animal's well-being or compromise the validity of the
scientific study. However, drugs used for anesthesia, analgesia, and euthanasia
must not be used beyond their expiration date under any circumstances.
Researchers are responsible for establishing and
implementing procedures that allow easy identification of drugs and other expired
medical materials. This includes dilutions or aliquots, which should also be
labeled as described in the IACUC Guideline 529-268 for Compounding and
Secondary Container Use for Injectable Drugs. All expired supplies must be
labeled "Expired – Do Not Use" and stored separately from non-expired
materials if immediate disposal is not possible.
When identifying the expiration date of a drug, the last day
of the month stamped on the bottle would be the last month the drug can be
used.
Example: Items stamped "3/21" may be used through March
31, 2021, and are outdated on April 1, 2021. Dispose of outdated items
appropriately.
With the exception of anesthetics, analgesics, emergency
medicine, and euthanasia drugs, expired medical material may be used for
non-survival/terminal procedures as long as the following requirements are
adhered to:
·
Materials are stored in a different location from
materials that have not expired and used for survival procedures.
·
Materials are marked as "Expired – Do not
use for Survival Procedures."
·
The use of expired medical materials does not
adversely affect the animal’s well-being or compromise the validity of the
scientific study.
IV: Removal and Disposal of Expired Medical Material
Researchers should implement a process that facilitates the
identification and removal of expired drugs and other medical materials used
for research involving animals. This may take the form of using Circle
Dot Stickers to easily identify expiration dates or assigning monthly
responsibility to one lab member, who would check and properly remove, label,
or set aside for disposal all expired drugs. The IACUC reserves the right to
make this recommendation a requirement if expired drugs or other medical
materials are repeatedly identified in a particular laboratory.
V: References
1. OLAW FAQ,
"May investigators use expired pharmaceuticals, biologics, and supplies in
animals?"
2. The IACUC Administrators Guide to Animal Program
Management, First edition, 2016.
Approved: 5/8/2023