Returned medical gases shall be identified as such and held. If the conditions under which such returned gases have been held, stored, or shipped before or during their return, or if the condition of the gas, its container, carton, or labeling, as a result of storage or shipping, casts doubt on the safety, identity, strength, quality, or purity of the gas, the returned gas shall be destroyed unless examination, testing, or other investigations prove the gas meets appropriate standards of safety, identity, strength, quality, or purity. Records of returned medical gases shall be maintained and shall include the name, lot number (or control number or batch number), reason for the return, quantity returned, date of disposition, and ultimate disposition of the returned gas. If the reason for a medical gas being returned implicates associated batches, an appropriate investigation shall be conducted in accordance with the requirements of § 213.192. Procedures for the holding, testing, and use of returned medical gases shall be in writing and shall be followed. This section is not applicable to the routine refilling of cryogenic medical gas containers in the normal course of business unless the cryogenic medical gas container was returned due to a quality issue.

Medical gases in containers that have been subjected to improper storage conditions may be salvaged unless their containers have been subjected to adverse conditions that impact the identity, strength, quality, and purity of the gas or integrity of the container closure. Whenever there is a question whether medical gases have been subjected to such conditions, salvaging operations may be conducted only if there is evidence from laboratory tests that such gases meet all applicable standards of identity, strength, quality, and purity, and the integrity of the container closure system is not compromised. Procedures for the holding, testing, and use of salvaged medical gases shall be in writing and shall be followed.