Diazepam (CAS 439-14-5): storage and disposal

Keep diazepam stock separate from incompatible chemicals, including oxidisers, and follow the product's storage requirements. Tablets and ampoules should be stored securely under the site's medicines procedure, with appropriate stock records maintained. Schedule 4 Part 1 does not itself require a statutory controlled drugs register or controlled drugs cabinet. The stock that causes trouble is the stock that has drifted out of that cupboard: ampoules in a seizure kit, an anaesthetic trolley or a vet's call-out bag, where heat and daylight reach them and nobody counts them. Diazepam is known to be taken up by some plastics, and the injection dislikes light, so ampoules are best kept in their original carton instead of loose in a plastic tray or bag.

A carton with a faded expiry date, or loose ampoules with no box at all, is usually the first thing anyone notices. Colour alone tells you little until you know which product you hold, because diazepam injection comes either as a clear, faintly yellow solution or as a milky white emulsion. Cloudiness or crystals in the clear type, or an oily layer separating out of the emulsion, mean the contents have changed. Tablets give few visible signs: look for crumbling, damp marks, split blisters or tablets moved into an unlabelled pot. A count that no longer matches the stock record is the sign that matters most, and it goes straight to the accountable officer.

This does not go through our standard collection route. It is arranged by manual enquiry, and never goes down the drain or into general waste.

Stock leaves the site only after a manual enquiry, since diazepam is not quoted online and a general chemical collection does not cover it. Destruction of controlled stock falls under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001. Routine Schedule 4 Part 1 stock destruction does not normally need an authorised witness, although local procedures may ask for one, so the accountable officer or responsible pharmacist decides first. In your enquiry, give the form, the number of ampoules or tablets, the expiry date and whether the stock came back from a patient. Veterinary holders normally use 18 02 08, which differs from the code normally used in human healthcare, so say which you are. A store assessment helps where old cartons have built up. Leave everything locked where it is meanwhile, and never empty ampoules into a sink.

Usually held as: injection, tablets.

Tell us the container size and how many you hold. An estimate is enough to start with, and some items cannot be priced until someone has looked at them.