A man has moved against a Jeddah private hospital for dispensing an expired drug from its pharmacy resulting in medical complications. The man's condition was said to have deteriorated after taking a few pills of the expired drug, a complaint to the Minister of Health stated, asking for immediate investigation with the hospital management. The man's lawyers, Muhammad Al-Hammri, said he had earlier approached the hospital management to reach settlement, but it refused to apologize to his client, or even discuss the incident. “Four months past its sell-by date, the drug had been on the shelf for at least three weeks,” he said. The lawyer said that his client went to the hospital for lack of calcium and he was prescribed a certain drug to be dispensed from the hospital pharmacy. When the man started to take the medicine, he suddenly developed medical complications, and eventually saw a doctor who told him that the medicine was three months past its expiry date, he added. Apparently, the complications were due to the expired drug, Al-Hammri said. “We have tried to sit down and talk with the hospital management, but it refused all attempts,” prompting the lawyer to file a lawsuit against the hospital with the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Commerce, he said. “We fear that expired drugs are still widely sold for quick and cheap profits,” he said. But the hospital denied the lawyer's allegations. “We never sell expired drugs,” said Tariq Al-Tariq, the medical director of the hospital. The quality control department at the hospital works around the o'clock to ensure reliable and excellent services to all patients, he said. The Jeddah Health Affairs Department has asked the man and his client to come forward with all documents and the drug to start investigating the case.
