Posted on 07/20/2017 7:35:05 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The box of prescription drugs had been forgotten in a back closet of a retail pharmacy for so long that some of the pills predated the 1969 moon landing. Most were 30 to 40 years past their expiration dates — possibly toxic, probably worthless.
But to Lee Cantrell, who helps run the California Poison Control System, the cache was an opportunity to answer an enduring question about the actual shelf life of drugs: Could these drugs from the bell-bottom era still be potent?
Cantrell called Roy Gerona, a University of California, San Francisco, researcher who specializes in analyzing chemicals. Gerona had grown up in the Philippines and had seen people recover from sickness by taking expired drugs with no apparent ill effects.
“This was very cool,” Gerona says. “Who gets the chance of analyzing drugs that have been in storage for more than 30 years?”
The age of the drugs might have been bizarre, but the question the researchers wanted to answer wasn’t. Pharmacies across the country — in major medical centers and in neighborhood strip malls — routinely toss out tons of scarce and potentially valuable prescription drugs when they hit their expiration dates.
Gerona and Cantrell, a pharmacist and toxicologist, knew that the term “expiration date” was a misnomer. The dates on drug labels are simply the point up to which the Food and Drug Administration and pharmaceutical companies guarantee their effectiveness, typically at two or three years. But the dates don’t necessarily mean they’re ineffective immediately after they “expire” — just that there’s no incentive for drugmakers to study whether they could still be usable.
ProPublica has been researching why the U.S. health care system is the most expensive in the world. One answer, broadly, is waste....
(Excerpt) Read more at propublica.org ...
The only ones you really have to worry about are certain anti-biotics which turn toxic after a certain amount of time has passed.
Expiration dates on tinctures.
Expiration dates on dry goods.
Expiration dates on solid vitamins.
ALL lies.
Keep these things cool, dry and sealed against any air infiltration, and they can last indefinitely.
My GF is so brainwashed into thinking that expiration dates are valid, she tosses out dairy goods the day BEFORE. She was mortified to learn that I use cream that is as much as a week beyond the “due date”. If it’s kept well-chilled and never left out, it’s fine.
Interesting read. I’ve always wondered about the dates on over the counter stuff. I’ve taken plenty that are several years out of date and they seem effective and never caused any kind of issue.
Would make a lot of sense to evaluate EVERY new drug to see what it’s efficacy is/was. Say to the point it reaches 90% and or becomes a threat due to rot or decay.
I’ve always figured as much. It’s not like the pills are going to turn into non-aspirin!
I wonder about Epipen. These are only “valid” for a year and are hellishly expensive. It would be nice if they didn’t have to be replaced annually.
When I was a kid in high school, I got one of those little cartons of milk at lunch. Started chugging, but milk is not supposed to be lumpy like cottage cheese.
Good drugs are like fine wine - enjoy them whenever you can. Who wants to eat old antibiotics anyway? :)
My wife does the same thing. It makes me rage with frustration.
She also takes pans with minor amount of food in them out to the yard to dump them. It attracts critters. I ask her, what do you think goes down the toilet?
But you want to keep a close eye on them. And I don't know if you can even see the liquid anymore.
If you have a decent sense of smell, it is easy to tell when aspirin has gone bad. If you open the bottle and it smells like vinegar, toss it. If it doesn’t it is (legal disclaimer) likely still good.
“She was mortified to learn that I use cream that is as much as a week beyond the “due date”. If it’s kept well-chilled and never left out, it’s fine.”
My kind of man.
Before I got married, if lunchmeat felt slimy, I’d rinse it off...
Pharmaceutical companies get sued for everything under the sun. Who is going to be first to blame them for trying to limit their liability just a bit.
If you open the bottle and smell ammonia do not take it. In fact that is a good rule of thumb for anything. Except, of course, ammonia and products that are suppose to contain ammonia.
There’s no need to rinse slick meat unless it’s starting to grow mold. LOL
How long do you want them to leave the new drug on the shelf?
The root cause of most evils, waste, and destruction: trial lawyers.
Brainwashing being the popular fad that it is, this might do no good.
But you could attempt to explain that the date on dairy and other "fresh" foods in grocery stores is not a "spoils by" date.
It is rather the last date on which the store will sell the product, expecting a reasonable transit and storage time to the customer's home and them a period of storage during which it is consumed.
Typically, dairy and juice products can easily be stored with safety and consumed for anywhere from two weeks to a month after the "sell by" purchase date, provided they are kept with reasonable care and refrigerated.
“Before I got married, if lunchmeat felt slimy, I’d rinse it off...”
I still wash mold off of blocks of cheese and eat it. Drives my wife and son nuts. I’m still here.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.