Most of the medications prescribed by experts are subject to a specified expiry date. Whether the medicine is exclusively available from over the counter or not, the manufacturers should relayed the efficacy and lifespan of these remedies to the medical experts and patients alike. But even though there is a clear indication of the expiration dates in the packaging of the drugs, people are still confused about when to take the medicines in their best condition and whether it is still safe to take expired treatments.
Expiry Date on Drug Labels: Is It Important?
MOUNT PROSPECT, IL - SEPTEMBER 21: A woman shops in the pharmacy area of a Wal-Mart store September 21, 2006 in Mount Prospect, Illinois. Wal-Mart announced today they plan on reducing prices for nearly 300 generic prescription drugs, starting the program in the Tampa Bay, Florida area.
People who go to a convenience store or a pharmacy could observe that across the place, there are medicinal pieces that are out of place and are placed to other aisles they do not belong with. It is unavoidable not to look at some drugs and check their labels. Down the package, the expiry date has a way of boasting itself that even keen people would be annoyed of.
On many occasions, we can catch several medicines that have already missed their expiry date. These dates vary from each of the drugs, which could span from days, weeks, or even months. With that said, it is seemingly mandatory to ask the managing personnel or even ourselves about the state of these expired medicines.
Thomas Jefferson University pharmacology expert Gina Bellottie said in a Popular Science report that the most common rule regarding drug intake is that people should not consume or inject any medicines past their expiration dates. However, there are some discrepancies in the expiry dates of each of the drugs available on the market. The bottom line is that the dates indicated on each prescribed medication are not as concrete end-date as opposed to what many people know.
In the United States, any medicines produced by pharmaceutical companies must have expiration dates indicated on each of their packages. The mandate was implemented by the Food and Drugs Administration to all of the medicines supplied across the country, whether they are exclusively bought over the counter or prescription-based.
The expiry dates printed on each sheet and bottle of medicines are not suggested by a single specialist but rather a result of complex data achieved through a series of tests and experiments. The dates are carefully studied before they are printed to the drugs before market production. The research process around each batch of the medicines includes the analysis of recommended temperature and chemical reactions during intake.
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Taking Expired Medicines
Bellottie emphasized that beyond the expiration dates printed on the drug packages, the pharmaceutical companies do not guarantee any efficacy. They also discourage anyone from ingesting the medication past the dates because they do not have conclusive data that tells whether the drugs are safe or will work as intended.
In a study covered by ProPublica last 2017, it was suggested that a number of drugs are still safe to take even months or years after their expiry. Based on the findings, these selected drugs maintained the potency and functions, allowing people who consume the medicines to be assisted and temporarily relieved from their conditions.
Today, the rule over expired drugs remains the same. Even though there are studies that support the ingestion of old medicines, the debates over their potency retention have remained. As for Bellottie, their recommendations would still rely on the dates printed on each medicine. The expert encourages people to refrain from taking remedies past their allotted timeframe as it can be risky and could lead to unwanted side effects. Instead, people should always seek advice from their pharmaceutical professionals first.
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