header

Is It OK to Use Expired Medicine? Find Out Here...

Here's a little bit of good news that might end up saving you piles of cash: You can actually ignore the expiration date of many different drugs for up to years! According to a report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), certain kinds of medication may retain much of their potency for as many as 40 years...
 
 
Medication

Why Do Drugs Have an Expiration Date?

According to the Harvard Health Letter, an expiration date is a legal requirement that has been imposed by the FDA since 1979. It is meant to be the date until when "the manufacturer can still guarantee the full potency and safety of the drug.” However, research shows that 90% of more than 100 types of medication, both over-the-counter and prescription, are fine to use even 15 years after they have supposedly expired.

A report from Medscape claims that expiration dates don't tell you how long the medication “is actually ‘good’ or safe to use”, and in fact, many medical authorities claim that it's okay to take most drugs well after they've supposedly expired.

Medication

How Long Past the Date Is OK?

The JAMA study went well past 15 years, with the researchers analyzing different medications with 14 distinct active ingredients in them that had expired anywhere between 28 and 40 years ago. Their findings revealed that most of the active ingredients were still at least 90% effective, which is considered to be the minimum potency acceptable. The only drugs which fell below this threshold were aspirin, phenacetin (a painkiller), and amphetamine (for ADHD and narcolepsy).

 

The former director of the FDA’s testing program, Francis Flaherty, said that “expiration dates put on by manufacturers typically have no bearing on whether a drug is usable for longer.” He also said that these dates were typically used for “marketing, rather than scientific, reasons… it’s not profitable for them to have products on a shelf for 10 years. They want turnover.”

Medication
Notable Exceptions
Here are a few drugs that you should always throw out after their expiration date has passed:
• Insulin
• Liquid Antibiotics
• Nitroglycerin
• Tetracycline

How to Make the Right Decision

“Given that Americans currently spend more than $300 billion annually on prescription medications,” the JAMA report states, “extending drug expiration dates could yield enormous health-care expenditure savings.” 
If you're thinking of taking an expired drug, you should first consider what it is and why you need to take it. If it is listed in the exception list above, or if your life depends on it being 100% effective, then throw it out and get some unexpired medication instead. You should be fine otherwise, but if you have any questions, then make sure to check with your doctor or pharmacist first.
 
Receive the newest health updates directly to your mail inbox
Did you mean:
Continue With: Facebook Google
By continuing, you agree to our T&C and Privacy Policy
Receive the newest health updates directly to your mail inbox
Did you mean:
Continue With: Facebook Google
By continuing, you agree to our T&C and Privacy Policy