Christenson, I share this concern with you. This is very scary. I can understand the need of drugs in the Gambia, but for a pharmacist to declare that "an ordinary ORS doesn't have any side effects. Even if it has expired" she said. That is very misleading. There is no antidiarrheals drugs free from side effects just like any other drugs. Some of the side effects infact are constipation and the adverse reactions of using expired drugs are more likely compared to usable ones. What is more alarming to me is the fact that the pharmacist admitted that they do dispense "Expired drugs" whiles they wait on new ones. There is no excuse for this. They should know their inventory and be responsible enough to know when to place an order. I do not know about the way drugs are regulated in the Gambia, but hence they are not manufactured there, there is no reason why we should not heed to the manufacturers' recommendations. There should be standards to be followed that every manufacturer of drugs follows and are tested to enhance the efficacy, biovailability, potency, purity, potency and safety and toxicity before being supplied to the consumers. I hope there is a law in the Gambia that guarantees the consumers some rights where by they could take lagal action against such. There is no acceptable excuse to dispense expired/wrong meds or dasages to the people. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------