This is the date at which the manufacturer can still guarantee the full potency and safety of the drug. Medical authorities state that expired medicine is safe to take, even those that expired years ago. It's true the effectiveness of a drug may decrease over time, but much of the original potency still remains even a decade after the expiration date. Excluding nitroglycerin, insulin, and liquid antibiotics, most medications are as long-lasting as the ones tested by the military.
Placing a medication in a cool place, such as a refrigerator, will help a drug remain potent for many years. Solid dosage forms, such as tablets and capsules, appear to be most stable past their expiration date. Drugs that exist in solution or as a reconstituted suspension, and that require refrigeration such as amoxicillin suspension , may not have the required potency if used when outdated. Loss of potency can be a major health concern, especially when treating an infection with an antibiotic.
In addition, antibiotic resistance may occur with sub-potent medications. Drugs that exist in solution, especially injectable drugs, should be discarded if the product forms a precipitant or looks cloudy or discolored. A study by Khanchandani on efficacy, safety concern and disposal practices followed for expired drug preparations among medical personnel, found that Ninety one percent subject responded correctly that the drug should be best stored in cool dry and dark places.
During the study they found out that majority consider expired drug use is not safe but Loel Dawis, expiration date chief said that with a handful of exception notably nitroglycerin, Insulin and Liquid antibiotic most drugs are probably as durable as the agency tested.
A study done by Simons on outdated EpiPen and EpiPen Jr auto injectors: past their prime, noted that, drugs differ in terms of their forms, dosage, and stability. Usually, drugs in liquid forms e.
Medication's potency gradually decreases starting from the moment of its manufacture. Since a law was passed in , drug manufacturers are required to stamp an expiration date on their products. This is the date at which the manufacturer can still guarantee the full potency and safety of the drug. Most of what is known about drug expiration dates comes from a study conducted by the Food and Drug Administration at the request of the military.
With a large and expensive stockpile of drugs, the military faced tossing out and replacing its drugs every few years. So, the expiration date doesn't really indicate a point at which the medication is no longer effective or has become unsafe to use. Medical authorities state if expired medicine is safe to take, even those that expired years ago.
A rare exception to this may be tetracycline, but the report on this is controversial among researchers. It's true the effectiveness of a drug may decrease over time, but much of the original potency still remains even a decade after the expiration date.
Excluding nitroglycerin, insulin, and liquid antibiotics, most medications are as long-lasting as the ones tested by the military. Placing a medication in a cool place, such as a refrigerator, will help a drug remain potent for many years. Is the expiration date a marketing ploy by drug manufacturers, to keep you restocking your medicine cabinet and their pockets regularly?
You can look at it that way. Or you can also look at it this way: The expiration dates are very conservative to ensure you get everything you paid for. And, really, if a drug manufacturer had to do expiration-date testing for longer periods it would slow their ability to bring you new and improved formulations.
The next time you face the drug expiration date dilemma , consider what you've learned here. This often means that the true shelf life of a particular drug is often never determined. However, there are some medications known to be less stable over time, and these medications should not be taken beyond the expiration date. These medications include:. Despite the fact that some medications may be effective beyond their expiration dates, studies also conclude that the true shelf life of a medication varies by the:.
Determining whether an expired medication is still stable requires laboratory-based chemical analyses, which means you can't know how long that expired cold medicine sitting in your medicine cabinet at home will actually be effective. That being said, some argue that the details matter when it comes to considering expired medications.
The rationale being that occasionally turning to expired medications for inconvenient, uncomfortable symptoms carries less risk than relying on expired medication for a serious health condition you may have.
For instance, taking an expired antihistamine to fight a bout of seasonal allergies or a pain reliever to relieve a headache may be harmless, with the worst case scenario being that the medicine just doesn't help you feel better. On the other hand, relying on expired heart medication could lead to a dangerous and even life-threatening heart problem or complication. You should take any medicine that's left after this time back to your pharmacist to dispose of, even if it's within the manufacturer's expiry date.
If you have medicines that have passed their expiry date, take them to your pharmacist, who can dispose of them safely for you. You should never throw unused or expired medicines in the rubbish bin or flush them down the toilet. Page last reviewed: 6 January Next review due: 6 January Home Common health questions Medicines Back to Medicines. Why do medicines have expiry dates?
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