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.
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