Why does pills (eg. painkillers) have an expiration date? Aren’t they usable after that date?
In: Chemistry
Skatingraccoon hit the nail on head. My mom is a pharmacist and has explained it to me the same way. Antibiotics are the main thing that some people have lying around that you don’t want to take after the expiration date. Taking expired (less effective) antibiotics is more likely to result in antibiotic resistant infections in the future. So is not taking the full course of antibiotics so please anyone that reads this – finish your antibiotics even after you feel better!
But Tylenol and Advil are fine to take a couple years past the expiration date. You still shouldn’t take more than the recommended dosage because you can’t be sure how much it has degraded: you don’t want to end up with acetaminophen toxicity or something similar.
The FDA requires that all medications have an expiration date of no more than 2 years following the date of manufacture. Medications are guaranteed to remain effective until that date, assuming that you properly stored them.
Medications do lose potency over time, eventually they will stop working altogether. The US military did a study on this and found that, properly stored, most medications retained their effectiveness for at least 5 years.
You can safely use painkillers after their expiration date but you shouldn’t try to guess at how much of the effectiveness has been lost – getting your guess wrong could cause you to OD on some medications. But if the painkiller is working then there’s no reason not to continue to take it.
Antibiotics shouldn’t be taken past the expiration date because you don’t know how much of the effectiveness has been lost and the loss of even a small amount may render them ineffective.
Medications *cannot* become unsafe to use over time. If you take a medication 10, 20, of infinity years after its expiration date it will not harm you. If the medication would harm you after a certain period of time then the FDA will not approve it. The worst thing that will happen is it just won’t work or may have turned to vinegar if its suspended in alcohol (such as something like Nyquil).
They are perishable – over time the chemicals in them breakdown. Best case scenario is that they are still effective, but they might not be as effective as they were when they were still “fresh”. Worst case scenario is that they can become toxic, like rotten food, and screw with your body.
Often time their effect potency declines or become delayed and their side effects can be enhanced.
This doesn’t mean cough syrup will do less for cough and more for getting you high. It means it’ll do less for cough and take longer to work while also giving you full body itching and nausea.
Also, because the effect may become delayed, there’s an increased risk that people say, “this isn’t working, I’ll take more” then overdose or exceed the safe dose.
As they’re exposed to oxygen, and the various compounds in the air, the primary ingredient in the medication has an oxidation reaction that changes the effectiveness and potency of the medication…
The National Institute of Health (NIH) tested more that 100 drugs and found that 95%+ had an efficacy of 92% after 4 years and 84% after 5 years. Both these amounts are legal concentrations. The drugs that didn’t last were liquids and antibiotics. That said, I read that aspirin breaks down faster and should be replaced sooner.
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