Why does pills (eg. painkillers) have an expiration date? Aren’t they usable after that date?
In: Chemistry
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).
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