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While bearing the above points in mind, it is useful to look at the results of the SLEP program to help us make our own decisions about the drugs in our cabinet. Each batch of each drug in the SLEP program is tested separately, and the shelf life extended for each batch individually. The following table summarizes the expiration date assessment results for some of these drugs that have been published so far.

Each batch of each drug in the SLEP program is tested separately, and the shelf life extended for each batch individually. So, for example, for Ampicillin capsules the range is listed as 22 to 64 months, which means the shortest batch was extended by 22 months, and the longest by 64 months. So the mean, or average, extension across all the batches tested by the program was 49 months.

Category	Drug	Expiration Date Extension (months)
Category	Drug	Mean	Range
Antibiotics	Ampicillin capsules	49	22 – 64
	Amoxicillin tablets	23	22 – 23
	Cephalexin capsules	57	28 – 135
	Ciprofloxacin tablets	55	12 – 142
	Doxycycline capsules	50	37 – 66
	Doxycycline hyclate tablets *	27	15 – 91 *
	Tetracycline HCl capsules *	50	17 – 133 *

Anti-parasite	Mebendazole tablets	58	28 – 89

Pain relief / Anti-inflammatories	Acetaminophen pseudophedrine capsules	24	24 – 24
	Codeine sulphate tablets *	89	16 – 144 *
	Naproxen tablets	52	46 – 62

Heart drugs	Enalapril maleate tablets *	34	27 – 42 *

Stomach drugs	Cimetidine tablets	67	59 – 75

Respiratory drugs	Albuterol inhalant**	–	–
Respiratory drugs	Guaifenesin ER tablets	85	39 – 122

Emergency drugs	Atropine sulfate autoinjector*	57	12 – 135 *
Emergency drugs	Diazepam autoinjector*	63	12 – 100 *

Eye ointments	Sulfacetamide eye cream *	39	35 – 44 *
Eye ointments	Neomycin, polymixin B, bacitracin eye cream*	79	21 – 115 *

Skin medication	Aluminium acetate tablets*	52	16 – 70 *
Skin medication	Povidone-iodine ointment	65	35 – 134

Table adapted from Lyon et al. 2006

* Some batches (<50%) failed and could not be extended, or failed on repeat testing. Reasons for failure included failing chemical analysis, and changes in texture or appearance.

** No batches of this drug could have their shelf life extended.

These expiration date extensions make a big difference to the usable time of a drug. To take Ciprofloxacin as an example: the licensed shelf life is 3 years, and as a result of the SLEP program the shelf life was extended by an average of 4 years, giving a total shelf life of 7 years. Even the batches that were granted the shortest extension still received an additional year on top of the licensed shelf life.

https://www.askaprepper.com/the-real-expiration-date-of-common-drugs-in-your-cabinet/

https://www.askaprepper.com/how-to-store-your-drugs-for-an-extended-shelf-life/

Both articles above play it pretty safe but that's not a bad thing. Looks like antiotics are all pretty safe for 3-5 years in a cool, dark, dry place. Second article mentions a 'medicine box' with dessicant used. I would think an ammo box would be ideal. Since an ammo box has seals and you's ideally be using dessicant, a nice cool basement should work. Maybe bring the box upstairs once a year on a day with low humidity and put fresh dessicant in it and then bring it back down to the basement.

Penicillin is something that definitely goes bad after its expiration date. It is one medication that is not worth trying to store as bad penicillin is dangerous to take.

Another med that doesn’t have a great shelf life is thyroid medication.

That’s great to have the individual antibiotics tested. You are a wealth of knowledge!

I’m going to copy that and put it into my medical files. And then like Northwest granny always talked about, I need to print them out and put them in binders. All I did was buy the binders and create the tabs!

...batch of each drug in the SLEP program is tested separately, and the shelf life extended for each batch individually. The following table summarizes the expiration date assessment ...

interesting...

I love it that that list has bacitracin and neomycin eye ointment. I have a bunch of those but I’ve been wondering how long that would last past the expiration. I have a bunch of liquid IV steroids and I’ve been told by my doctor that kept in the fridge it will last forever, it just might get a little weaker overtime.