Annals of Pharmacotherapy

The practicing pharmacist must have some means of determining the age of the products he purchases and dispenses in order to assist him in providing the patient with drugs which are not deteriorated. If the pharmacist could determine the date of manufacture from the lot number, this problem could be alleviated.

This paper reports a study of the lot numbering systems of 166 pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturers. The manufacturers were asked to explain the meaning of their numbers if it was not confidential. They were also asked if they would be amenable to a standard system of assigning lot numbers to be utilized by all manufacturers. Of the 138 replies, 84 (61 percent) did not consider their number information confidential. Eighty-eight (64 percent) of the manufacturers stated that the date of manufacture could be determined from the lot number. Fifty-six (41 percent) of the respondents favored a standard system of assigning lot numbers. The means of identifying the date of production from the lot number are revealed for over fifty manufacturers. It is recommended that manufacturers adopt a standard system of assigning lot numbers.