To the Editor: The dermatoethics case scenario addressing the inadvertent dispensing of an expired topical medication by Drs Wang and Keller eloquently met its intent of reminding us to be accountable for our mistakes and to pursue patient-physician healing.1 However, among potential problems associated with such an error, their statement that "possible consequences include an adverse reaction" merits further discussion. Clinicians can take a degree of comfort in the knowledge that there are no reports in the literature of ingestion, injection, or topical application of current drug formulations used beyond their expiration date that have resulted in human toxicity.2 A half century ago, renal tubular damage was reported from a degraded tetracycline formulation that is no longer on the market.
展开▼
