Using "expired" meds OTC and RX topical creams - really bad or excuse to sell more?
 

So, how much do you worry about meds?

Halls cough drops (not really meds, mostly sugar and menthol), expired 2021. I could afford to throw them out and get more, but does it really matter?

Mucinex Nightshift Sinus caplets. Made in England, expiration Aug 2023. I suspect these are just fine.

Mupirocin ointment expiration 2018. My guess is that it's fine, but then it is 5 years out of date. Again, is this just so the pharma folks can sell more. These things are in heavy coated foil tubes.

Triamcinolone acetonide cream expiration 2017. Again, my guess is that it's fine, but then it is 5 years out of date. Again, is this just so the pharma folks can sell more. These things are in heavy coated foil tubes.

Whether a med is OTC or Rx it must pass what is known as stability testing which is an analysis looking for degradation by-products and the "shelf life" of the active ingredient.

Most meds have a 2 - 3 year expiration date. That date is determined by the testing which determines how long the med remains safe and effective.


Some expired OTCs remain relatively safe after expiration such as toothpaste and sugar based cough drops, they just won't be as effective.

Expired Rx can be very dangerous due to degradation.

My.02


From the CFR:
§ 211.166 Stability testing.

(a) There shall be a written testing program designed to assess the stability characteristics of drug products. The results of such stability testing shall be used in determining appropriate storage conditions and expiration dates. The written program shall be followed and shall include:

(1) Sample size and test intervals based on statistical criteria for each attribute examined to assure valid estimates of stability;

(2) Storage conditions for samples retained for testing;

(3) Reliable, meaningful, and specific test methods;

(4) Testing of the drug product in the same container-closure system as that in which the drug product is marketed;

(5) Testing of drug products for reconstitution at the time of dispensing (as directed in the labeling) as well as after they are reconstituted.

(b) An adequate number of batches of each drug product shall be tested to determine an appropriate expiration date and a record of such data shall be maintained. Accelerated studies, combined with basic stability information on the components, drug products, and container-closure system, may be used to support tentative expiration dates provided full shelf life studies are not available and are being conducted. Where data from accelerated studies are used to project a tentative expiration date that is beyond a date supported by actual shelf life studies, there must be stability studies conducted, including drug product testing at appropriate intervals, until the tentative expiration date is verified or the appropriate expiration date determined.

If expiration dates were set to allow Pharma to sell more they'd be shorter. But in my experience anything shorter than 18 months was not viable for Rx as most of that time would be lost to moving through the system.



It's important to check those dates before buying the med

Thanks.

Just noticed your sig "big blue tricycle", Awesome!

Bottled water has an expiration date…

My pharmacist says that meds past their expiration date may not be as potent. IMO if we're talking topical cream or aspirin it is no biggie deal. If it is something like a heart medicine then I would say stay close to the expiration.

Food expiration dates ("Best if used by...") are a SCAM. I ignore them unless it is something in the fridge that has spoiled or is growing other colors in it.

Assuming it's bottled in a plastic bottle, I wouldn't want to use it after a long time.

That's my take. I am keeping the Mucinex that is dated Aug 2023, and the cough drops (I ate one, and it seemed potently mentholly). Ointments and creams are probably OK to a point, but if they are many, many years out of date, we probably didn't need them or use them much, so may as well ditch them anyway (we'll probably need them next week).

Yeah. Dirty micro plastics in the food system.

Always stick with the expiration date on Heart meds and condoms.

Mostly they lose potency, there are some things that actually go bad, like get toxic.

Something like bleach or iodine, okay, castellani's paint, negative ghost rider

I just let whatever is in there crawl out on its own.

“It rubs the lotion into its skin…”

I personally never worry about the expiration dates on anything. They never had any of that nonsense for the majority of my life. IMO, it is just a way to increase profit margins. Take an Albuterol inhaler, for instance, my doctor told me that all kinds of gruesome death would befall me if I used it after the expiration date. Well lo and behold, due to the lack of availability during Covid…where they were giving it out like candy, it was found to be totally safe. It did lose some effectiveness, but was otherwise harmless. No gruesome death as big pharma had told the doctors.

Funny, an albuterol inhaler was one of the things that we had that was out of date. It's super rarely needed, but nice to have just in case.

Loss of efficacy is just one of the possible results AND it constitutes a violation of law if you're not advised accordingly.

It is true that modern meds rarely develop deadly / toxic degradants after expiration, but efficacy is definitely compromised.

If Pharma just wanted to sell more they would have worked against expiration dating as a legal requirement.

"The lotion has no expiration date..."