A pharmacist was concerned that the contents of a bottle of activated charcoal suspension was solidified and could not be resuspended. The manufacturer replied that the product should be stored between 15o-30o C (59o-86o F). Storage outside that range would render the product difficult, if not impossible, to resuspend even after it was brought back to room temperature. The manufacturer suspected that the product was stored under adverse conditions at some time during the product's history. The firm is currently investigating ways to make the product more tolerant to excursions outside the normal temperature range.
During the middle of a particularly warm Maryland summer, a patient received a mail-order prescription for captopril tablets. The tablets exuded a strong sulfide-like odor causing the patient to take the product to a nearby pharmacy for examination. The pharmacist verified that the mailed captopril indeed had a much stronger odor than the one he had on hand, indicating that the product had "cooked" during shipment and probably had degraded. The pharmacist recommended that the patient not use the mailed product. Instead he advised the patient to contact the poison-control center and the mail-order pharmacy regarding the problem.
Upon opening a sealed bottle of 250-mg ethosuximide soft gelatin capsules, a pharmacist found liquid from the capsules coating the inside of the bottle. Apparently, 15 or more capsules had either ruptured around the seal or were somehow destroyed at some time during their history. According to the manufacturer of the product, this is not an uncommon occurrence when soft gelatin capsules have been exposed to elevated temperatures. Soft gelatin capsules may break and leak when temperature conditions exceed the recommended labeled temperature of 30o C.
