Puerto Rico ADAP Dispensed Expired Medication to People Living with HIV/AIDS

New York, New York, February 19, 2010 – Puerto Ricans living with and affected by HIV/AIDS were relived that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General conducted an audit of the Puerto Rico Health Department to determine if it complied with Federal and Commonwealth requirements for dispensing, accounting for, and safeguarding AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAP) drugs. The final report issued January 14th, entitled "Review of the Puerto Rico AIDS Drug Assistance Program's Controls for Accounting for and Safeguarding Drugs," cites the Health Department for improperly handling medications and asks that they respond to the report within thirty days.

The recent Inspector General report found that the Health Department may have affected the treatment of hundreds of individuals living with HIV/AIDS by dispensing expired drugs and by falling to return the expired drugs to the manufacturers, the agency also lost thousands of dollars that could have been credited back by the manufacturers.

The report from the Inspector General found violations of the Pharmacy Act when it was noted that officials who were not pharmacists were allowed to dispense prescriptions and that in some cases expired prescription drugs were dispensed to HIV positive patients who could develop a drug resistance which would make treatment less effective and more difficult.

The report asks that the Health Department:

- ensure that ADAP drugs are dispensed by a licensed pharmacist or by a pharmacy technician under the direct supervision of a licensed pharmacist,

- implement procedures to adequately account for ADAP drug inventories, and

- implement procedures to properly dispose of expired ADAP drugs, and, if possible return them to manufacturers for credit.

For more information please read the report available at http://oig.hhs.gov/oas/reports/region2/20802003.pdf

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