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47
height the contents reach in the bottle in which the medicine is
originally supplied to him by the vendor. That the bottle so
marked be submitted to the Analyst in order to enable him to
determine the total quantity of medicine supplied.
(ii) That the Analyst and the Medical Officer of Health be both
consulted as to the type of prescription it is desirable to use for
the purpose of checking the accuracy of dispensing, and that, in
the event of any substantial inaccuracies being disclosed by analysis
both these officers be consulted as to the desirability of instituting
proceedings.
The object of the first suggestion is to enable the Analyst
to ascertain the total quantity of each of the ingredients
(including the water or other " vehicle ") present in the medicine.
If he receives only a portion of the sample, representing
an unknown fraction of the whole, he' is only able to ascertain
the relative percentages of the several ingredients; but if
he is also provided with information as to the total quantity
of the medicine dispensed he can then deduce the total amount
of each of the ingredients as supplied by the Chemist. These
particulars will obviously be of importance to the Council in
considering what action they should take in regard to a
medicine which has been inaccurately dispensed.
The Minister believes that the second suggestion is in
accordance with the practice which is already largely adopted
by Local Authorities. It is clearly desirable that, where a
sample of medicine is taken for the purpose of checking the
accuracy of dispensing, it should be so chosen as to be capable
of accurate analysis. It is also desirable in considering whether
or not proceedings should be taken under the Sale of Food and
Drugs Acts that proper regard should be paid both to the degree
of accuracy obtainable in the analysis of the article in question
and to the margin of error allowable in ordinary dispensing
operations.