It’s an open secret among medical professionals: Many drugs maintain their ability to combat ailments well after their expiration date. One pharmacist says he sometimes takes home expired OTC medicine so he and his family can use it.
(Published 2017, but there's no expiration date for this story)
(Published 2017, but there's no expiration date for this story)
Comments
Asking for someone who found it in their medicine cabinet.
just like the supermarkets for out-of-date products at a lower price, or simply give it to a free clinic for the homeless. Waste not want not.
I did toss oxy leftover from surgery ONCE but only bc I was afraid it’d telepathically call out to meth heads w/in a 100m radius
It's that old.
The only dates that are required on anything are infant formula.
With otc, that's certainly a very minimal problem.
They say to replace every 3 months because thats where they make their money. Refills.
it was never about harm or danger but always about effectiveness. conditions of storage is different once it home. it is also about logic, you can only state the minimum time the are good for.
I tell my family it’s already sour.
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It's federally mandated and highly profitable.
Liquids can and do deteriorate quickly, so those expiration dates are still valid.
Or in other words, smell it before you taste it. That's usually a good way to tell if it's gone-and throw it out if in doubt anyway.
( see caveats in other comments )
Expired Tetracycline should never be taken- it has caused Fanconi syndrome, which is a rare form of kidney damage that prevents electrolytes from being absorbed by the body.
If you can buy fresh unexpired meds absolutely do that.
I am headed over to ProPublica to see if they cited that study.
Cycline’s
(Published 2023, but there's no expiration date for my story...or the "bounties.")
“If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself.” -1984
https://bsky.app/profile/killercop1984.bsky.social/post/3lc2io6cd7s2w
There’s a handful of drugs that are unsafe if too old.
And some go obviously bad. Some may lose some potency. But you can look all this up before tossing your drugs.
you can still take opioids long after their expiration date and they will still do a number on you.
So anything else is still good, unless it's changed color or smells bad. Then you throw it out.
Yay for cost controls
Obviously a pharmacist would know which were safe to take home for later use.
The rest of us -- not so much!
There needs to be very concise rules and labeling drugs for this. Right now pharma is muddying the waters with expiration dates on drugs that don't expire that soon.
Are many expiration dates overly conservative? Absolutely, but not all of them.
Same can be said about food. Steve1989MREinfo, anyone?
Exp. dates should be a guide for decision-making, not end all be all for disposal.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11117793/#:~:text=3.1.,-2.&text=Conversely%2C%20storing%20the%20drug%20in,pure%20drug%20substances%20%5B17%5D.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11117793/#B13-antibiotics-13-00466
Don't rely on those old aspirin tablets to help you when you have a heart attack -- keep them fresh if you're keeping them for that possible future use.
SISPQ exists and drugs aren’t used beyond the stability study data for good damn reason.
Container leachate
Evap
Humidity change
Breakdown products
Many things can cause drugs to become less safe while they maintain efficacy
Leave it to the scientists bro
3. #2 is why you don’t get the govt doing it on every drug. Bc the cost is enormous.
Instead they’ve got a fucking pharmacist without a shred of actual qualification, spouting ‘no really it’s fine’
And that can get ppl ill or killed.
Bro needs to lose his job
Having said all this, it’s not a bad idea but you know why companies don’t do it?
1. It won’t significantly increase revenue.
2. It will cost a lot. As in millions, bc you need the same lots of
2/3
I read it. And Here’s 2 fun facts.
1. The blurb posted has a pharmacist (unqualified to make this call) saying ‘oh it’s fine I do it all the time’ and he should be fired for that.
2. It will raise costs