The National Transparency Authority (NTA) within the framework of its responsibilities and mission, in October 2022 conducted an audit, following a complaint, of a private pharmacy in the Region of Attica, with the aim of ascertaining whether or not the rules for the proper storage and disposal of medicines are being observed, as well as the legislation on expired and overdue medicines.
During the on-site audit it was found:
In the pharmacy, preparations for sale were found whose permitted period of use had expired and which, as pharmaceutical waste, should have been removed from the sales displays (pharmacopoeia) and kept in a separate place (p.d.312/1993 article 6 paragraph 5).
The procedure for the return to companies of expired or expiring pharmaceutical preparations within the current first or second half of the year (by issuing a credit invoice, etc.) was not followed for pharmaceutical preparations, as provided for in Article 19(1)(b) of the Pharmaceuticals Act. 1 and 2 of Law 96/1973 and the circulars of the National Organisation for Medicines (EOF).
The audit report was forwarded to the relevant Pharmaceutical Association for disciplinary action against the pharmacist, as well as to the EOF in accordance with par. 12 article 19 article 19 of Law 96/1973, as amended and in force, in order to examine the imposition of administrative fines and sanctions on the Pharmacy.