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Auxilia Katongomara Court Reporter
A TOP nurse at the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) charged with selling expired drugs has told a magistrate there was nothing wrong with her conduct, admitting that her institution routinely gives expired drugs to patients.
Patricia Malemane Dube, a sister-in-charge at the hospital appeared before magistrate Tawanda Muchemwa on Thursday facing two counts of unauthorised sale of drugs and selling expired drugs.

Dube was issued with a warrant of arrest last week for defaulting a court hearing.
Prosecutors allege that she illegally sold expired Amphotericin B, a prescription drug to a terminally ill patient for $40 in March.
During cross examination Dube said there was nothing unusual about selling expired drugs.

“I don’t see anything wrong because we use expired drugs at the hospital. We use the drugs that we would have been given by the pharmacist and even after the Drug Control Act was enacted we are still issuing the drugs to patients,” she said responding to prosecutor, Busani Moyo who asked why she sold expired drugs to terminally ill patients.

“I don’t sell drugs but I was trying to assist a patient and it was out of pity that I gave them.”
She claimed UBH issued drugs up to three months after their expiry date.

“This drug falls under drugs marked with an intention of notifying us that the medicine can still be administered even three months after the expiry date. That particular one was still capable of being used as medication even three months after expiry date,” said Dube.

Moyo said on March, 3, Dube was at her workplace at UBH when a patient, Lovemore Tsingano approached her with a prescription for Amphotericin B.

“Tsingano’s wife, Singatsho Sikhundla, approached Dube who was in charge of the ward who then told her that she could supply her with the drug for $20 per 50g per vial,” said Moyo.

He said Sikhundla then paid Dube $40 for the medicine.
“The matter was reported to the hospital’s public relations officer Nobuhle Thaka leading to the recovery of the drugs from Singatsho and the two $20 notes that Singatsho paid Dube,” said Moyo.

The drugs that Dube allegedly sold expired in January this year. She was remanded out of custody to July 31.