What happens to adulterated or misbranded drugs?

Adulterated or misbranded drugs pose significant risks to public health and safety, which is why they cannot remain in circulation. When drugs are identified as such, they must be quarantined to prevent their distribution and potential harm to patients. The process of destruction ensures that these drugs do not re-enter the market or provide false assurances of safety and efficacy to healthcare providers or patients.

Destruction at the claimant's expense underscores the seriousness of maintaining product integrity in pharmaceuticals. It also emphasizes the responsibility of manufacturers or distributors to ensure that their products meet regulatory standards. This regulatory framework aims to protect consumers and uphold the quality of healthcare.

Other options do not align with proper regulatory practices; storing the drugs indefinitely would risk their accidental distribution, returning them to manufacturers may not address the inherent problems with the drugs, and recycling is not an appropriate method for handling pharmaceuticals that do not meet safety standards. Each of these alternatives fails to uphold the necessary public health safeguards that the proper destruction of adulterated or misbranded drugs ensures.