Products from Teva Canada have confusing expiration dates

 A hospital pharmacy recently received a package of rizatriptan 10 mg tablets manufactured by Teva Canada. Pharmacy staff noticed a confusing expiration date (AL-2021) on the outer carton and each unit dose package (Figure 1). Teva USA was contacted and confirmed that a 2-letter abbreviation, based on French language abbreviations for the month, may be utilized for products manufactured by Teva Canada and are approved for sale in the US. The French abbreviations are not necessarily the same as the first 2 letters of that month. Teva’s nystatin oral tablets are another product that bears this expiration date format.

Table 1 lists the abbreviations used by Teva Canada, with the names of the months in French and English. The expiration date is the last day of the month. These abbreviations are accepted by Health Canada in both official languages, French and English. However, of concern in the US is that MA could be considered as March rather than May, and JN as January rather than June.

We have reported this concern to Teva and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Teva informed us that there already is a plan to change the date format to make it consistent with other products marketed in the US. The company stated that the plan should be implemented “shortly.”

There have been many problems with the way expiration dates are communicated on medical products over the years. For example, on US products, one can find the abbreviation JN or JU, even though these could represent expiration dates in January, June, or July. So, it is time for this ongoing problem to be addressed. The good news is that USP is currently evaluating the need for changes and standards that we believe will take these problems into consideration. FDA is    currently updating their guidance for industry as well. We look forward to seeing new standards soon.