What Expiration? Your Drugs May Last A Long Time - from Pharmalot

What Expiration? Your Drugs May Last A Long Time

from Pharmalot by Ed Silverman

Next time you decide to toss that prescription medicine because it appears to have expired, you may want to think twice. Why? A new analysis indicates that some prescription drugs retain their potency long after the expiration date, and the finding also suggests that the healthcare system could save untold oodles of money if expiration dates were sufficiently extended.
To wit, a team of researchers analyzed 14 different medications and found that 12, or 86 percent, tested at concentrations that were at least 90 percent of the amount on the labeling. Three actually had concentrations that exceeded the labeling; just two medications had less than 90 percent of the labeled concentration, according to a research letter published in the Archives of Internal Medicine (read here).