Pharmaceuticals warn customers to throw away medicines after the Expiration date. This is in compliance to the US Law passed in 1979 requiring them to do so, and this date is supposed to be the time at which the manufacturer can still guarantee the full potency and safety of the drug.
However, a study conducted by the US Food and Drug Administration at the request of the military in 1985 showed that 90% of more than 100 drugs, both prescription and over-the-counter, were perfectly good to use even 15 years after the expiration date.
“So the expiration date doesn't really indicate a point at which the medication is no longer Effective or has become unsafe to use. Medical authorities state expired drugs are safe to take, even those that expired years ago. While it's true that the effectiveness of a drug may decrease over time, much of the original potency still remains even a decade after the expiration date. Excluding nitroglycerin, insulin, and liquid antibiotics, most medications are as long-lasting as the ones tested by the military”.
“If your medications have been stored under good conditions, they should retain all or much of their potency for at least one to two years following their expiration date, even after the container is opened. But you should discard any pills that have become discolored, turned powdery, or smell strong; any liquids that appear cloudy or filmy; or any tubes of cream that are hardened or cracked”.
Recently, three class action suits have been filed in St. Louis County Circuit Court, Missouri were filed against the makers of Aspirin, Advil and Tylenol contesting accusing them of using "unconscionable, unfair, deceptive, unethical and illegal" methods to get consumers to throw away their products when expiration date has passed, though the companies know "that if stored properly these medications can and do remain chemically stable, safe and effective long after those dates."
The cases used the studies by Harvard Medical School and Johns Hopkins University proving that these products are safe and effective long after the expiration date.
“They want the defendants ordered to disclose the meaning behind the expiration dates, to provide accurate information about when the products are no longer safe or effective, and to provide instructions on storing the products to their effective life.”
http://www.courthousenews.com/
http://www.healthnews.harvard.edu/
http://www.johnshopkinshealthalerts.com
