Browsing in my cabinet for a headache medicine in the middle of the night last weekend gave me a surprise at the huge stock of bottles and boxes of vitamins, food supplements, and other over the counter medicines for stomachache, toothache, muscle pains, and all other aches that I haven’t touched for more months than I can remember, and almost all of them with expiry dates in 2009 or 2010.
The temptation to use medicines that have expired may be great when you think of the money you spent for these medicines, but if you think of the money, you may be putting your health at risk.
Ted Parker, Brabu Pharmacy Wellness Center owner said that as a general rule, once a medication has expired, no one is supposed to take it.
“Expiration date indicates until when is the guarantee of potency and safety of a medicine is, so if you use it after the expiration date indicated, there’s no more guarantee that it will still work or if it’s still safe,” Parker said.
He said that some items like over the counter stuff may still work after the expiration date, but then again, it may not.
“For example if you take certain antibiotics three to six months after the expiration date, they may actually harm you instead of treating you. If something is expired, it’s best to replace it,” Parker said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a consumer alert last April saying that expiration dates on medicines really matter.
Ilisa Bernstein, FDA Pharmacist said that once medicine is expired, there’s no guarantee that it will work or is safe for consumption.
“Expiration dates are essential tools in ensuring the safety and effectiveness of medicines. When a medicine has expired, its chemical composition may have changed and can make the medicine weaker so it will not provide the treatments that you need,” Bernstein said.
Bernstein also urges the consumers to check out the label for storage instructions.
Tips on storing medicines
For medicines to retain their potency and safety, here are some tips on how to store them properly:
• Store most of the medicines in a dry, cool place or at room temperature. Sunlight may cause the medicines to deteriorate and they could lose their potency.
• Keep medicines in their original containers.
• If there are children in the house, see to it that your pharmacist has supplied childproof caps for medicines that should be taken orally.
• Although some medicines need to be stored in a refrigerator, don’t let liquid preparations freeze.
When to dispose medicines
Dispose of medicines that fall into one or more of the following conditions:
• Tablets or capsules that are chipped, cracked, powdery or discolored.
• Liquid medicines that have discolored or thickened.
• Ointments or creams that have hardened or discolored.
• Medicines whose tubes have cracked, leaked or hardened.
• Capsules that have stuck together, cracked or softened.
• Medicines that have changed odors.
• Medicines that show expired dates.
Medicine disposal guidelines
How do you dispose of expired drugs? The FDA said that you just can’t throw expired medicines in the household trash like your regular trash.
Some of them have to be flushed down the toilet bowl, or returned to a drug take-back program if there are any in your community.
In an updated version of the proper drug disposal guidelines, the FDA which worked with the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy summarized the following tips:
• Never flush any prescription drugs down the toilet bowl unless it is indicated on the label. Flushing could present some environmental problems.
• Check out if there is a drug take-back program in the community to dispose of the drugs.
• If no instructions are given in the label, you can throw the medicines in the trash bin but take out the original medicine first and mix with other substances such as ground coffee or kitty litter so that if children or other people will go through your trash, they will not think of taking the medicines.
• Put the medicines in a sealable bag or other containers to prevent leaking.
• Scratch out all identifying information from the container before you throw the medicine to the trash.
• Doctors prescribe drugs. Do not give medications to your friends because what works for you could be harmful to another person.
Again, check those labels. Your safety could be at risk.
