Benepali left out of fridge ...is it safe

[Stars27]

Hi lovely people. I have a question, maybe you can help. I had a delivery of Benepali injections a month ago , and my son left them on the worktop all afternoon. Yikes ! When I got home I phoned healthcare at home and their pharmacist said to put one box of four injections in a cupboard and use them. The other box to put in the fridge and my hospital pharmacist would advise me what to do with them. Well, I didn’t hear till today . I have used all the injections from the cupboard, and he said it’s safe to use the ones in the fridge. I’m scared to use them as I’d heard that you can’t re refrigerate. Sorry it’s such a long post. I’m tempted to just not inject for four weeks till my next delivery .

[Hidden]

I think it will be fine. If the pharmacy said it was OK I'm sure it is. To be honest I left mine out for a good few hours. The delivery arrived as I was just going out and I put them on the side. That was early on and I'm fine.

Don't just take my word for it, I'm sure someone else will come along. Have you looked at the colour of liquid? Shoukd be clear.

[Stars27 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you nettienet, I guess I’m just scared as healthcare at home said the second box would be ruined. Thanks for your reply

[Hidden]

Hi Stars, I’m on same: heard like you can be out of fridge & safe to use for 4 weeks which is what you’ve done. Hospital pharmacist should know his stuff on second batch but if you’re worried you could double check on advice line or ring biologics clinic maybe x

[Stars27 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks karena, I’m just being super cautious I guess. I may just stop for the four weeks . Thanks for replying

[Hidden in reply to Stars27]

No, don’t blame you, I get myself going about them all the time. I’ve stuck with taking them on a day I didn’t want due to a late delivery one week & worry about taking it day earlier lol 😀 clearly need to take my own advice & ring helpline x

[helixhelix]

I've just had a look at the Benepali leaflet - you should have one too. I can't seem to copy and paste, but it says that " Benepali can be kept out of the fridge for 4 weeks, after which it mustn't be refrigerated again."

So that's not putting it back in the fridge after it has been out for weeks, not popping it back in after a few hours.

Missing 4 weeks is a lot. If you are really scared then phone HAH and say you are worried it has been spoiled by changes in temperature and ask for it to be replaced.

[Hidden]

I'm on cimzia and my son left the fridge open during the really hot weather in July while I was out. The h@h nurse told me that it's not a question of safety but efficacy. The medicine has been tested under controlled conditions, one of which is temp for maximum benefit, so it may be that your meds will just not be quite as effective as they would be if they had been kept at the correct temp. So inject away - I had 8 pens in the open fridge and used them all - still here to tell the tale! 😂

[Mandalou]

I completely agree with jnmmum,

It will be safe to take them just not of absolute optimum efficacy.

I think your choices are - take them as normal or ask for them to be replaced ( this must happen all the time)

I think the thing you ABSOLUTELY must NOT do is just stop taking it for 4 weeks!

Do not be lulled into thinking you will be ok by stopping treatment for a month.

Good luck

Mx

[dbestdeb]

Was it packed on ice from the pharmacy? Mine could sit outside in Florida heat for many hours and not get warm because of how it’s shipped in a cooler with ice packs. If yours is the same, I’m sure it’s fine.

[Hidden]

Please don’t apologise for the length of the post! That is not a long post but if it was then so what? What sort of temperature would the stuff have been in before it got to the fridge? If you live in arctic Canada you won’t need to worry too much, but the Galápagos Islands could be another matter 😄. Joking aside, why not get the opinion of say, another pharmacist and if they both say the drug is safe, then use it. If there’s disagreement you could contact the drug manufacturers.

[Stars27 in reply to Hidden]

Embriony, they sent a new batch, I’m really grateful for all the wise advice. I was able to take my injection today with no worries 😉

[Hidden in reply to Stars27]

Oh I’m glad to hear it 😀. I should read replies more carefully lol. Still, theoretically it’s an interesting question because you could have this happen on holiday with no easy way of getting new supplies. At the end of the day, the buck stops with the manufacturers of a drug if something goes wrong, so if it was really important, they’d have the best answer. I would think anyway. In fact they’d probably just replace the drug and play it safe!