Is There A Real Expiration Date Of Medications?

[iheartcats]

RX medicines don't come with an expiration date except to say 'discard after one year.' At least mine don't.

I was told to keep all my RX meds in a dry, dark area to prolong their life. What really happens when a med expires? Is it just a loss of effectiveness? I know a few meds are dangerous to use after expiration but these are usually clearly noted. And my Epi-pen is clearly dated.

I have a couple as-needed medicines that I probably won't use up in that 'discard after one year' time frame, and I hate to throw them out if they still have a few months life left in them.

[bjt22]

My son is a pharmacy technician. He fills med orders for nursing homes. He's told me, countless times over, to pretty much disregard dates. Often times, drugs sit on a pharmacy counter for a very, very long time. The date you get on the prescription might have little to do with how long they've sat on a shelf in a pharmacy. I think we need to use common sense. If it's sat in your cabinet for five years, it should probably be pitched. If you are really worried, the suggestion is that you ask your doctor to write you up new prescriptions for "as is" meds on a yearly basis. If you are like me, and hate to throw what could be good medicine out, ask your doctor to write your prescription for an amount of the drug that you are likely to use in a year.

[iheartcats]

Thanks, BJT - It makes sense because some of the expiration dates seem so arbitrary.

I think my as-needed guys can go about 6 more months so at least I won't feel wasteful. I'll have to calculate what I need in the future for those!

[flop]

If medicines come in a foil/plastic strip there is usually a batch number (BN or Lot) stamped on one end of the strip and an expiry date on the other.

Some medicines like nitroglycerine tablets loose their potency very quickly but most meds last quite a long time.

Personally I have taken pain-killers that were over a year past their date but they worked fine. I think it is like tinned food - guaranteed to be good up to the use by date but probably ok for a while afterwards.

The leaflet I was given with my Epi-Pen says to keep an eye on the date and replace when due to expire. But it also says that using an out-of-date Epi-pen is much better than taking nothing if you don't have a fresh pen available.

Flop

[morgan617]

There are some meds (nitro comes to mind) that really do expire, so just ask your pharmacist. it's usually the best way to go. morgan

[Broken_Shell]

Hi Cat Lady,

Here's my pharmaceutical expertise... meds are considered expired when they have lost 10% of there potency. In other words, they are still 90% potent. The pharmacy is legally required to put an expiration date of one year on dispensed meds, unless the date on the package from the actual drug as a sooner date. In other words, even if the date on the manufacturer package is 5 years from now, the pharmacy will still put a one year expiration date on it. There are two concerns: if the medication will still be helpful, and if it will be harmful. Most tablets and capsules are unlikely to harm you if you take them after the date, but they might not help as much. However, since the drugs are chemicals and can not be verified to be stable after the expiration date, they may undergo some type of chemical degradation that could harm you. If they are say 6 months past the date, then they are probably still safe. Longer than that and you may to taking a chance. The pharmacy keeps very thorough records, so if you contact them, they may be able to check the lot number from which your medications were dispensed and give you some more accurate expiration dates. However, with things like Nitro and EpiPen, I would definately advise that you closely follow the expiration dates since any loss of potency could render them unable to save you in a life threatening situation. Happy cabinet cleaning

~ Broken_Shell