The Devonport Incident 7th March 1972

Today (7th March 2012) is the 40th anniversary of one of the most infamous pharmaceutical disasters.  Commonly known as the Devonport Incident, this problem concerned the release of non-sterile dextrose infusion bottles onto the market.  It is thought that this incident cost the lives of 5 people.  Whilst much has been written on this article in the past, today is a worthwhile reminder of the importance of Good Manufacturing Practice to protect patients from poor quality medicines and why the efforts we put in at work mean that fortunately problems like this are extremely rare.