Drug Expiration Dates

[euro]

The Air Force study, back in the 1980's made sense to us, so we don't and haven't thrown out any except capsule liquid drugs for many, many years. It was only this spring, that I finally ran out of the gout drug colchicine from 1990. (Then price about $.05 each... Renewal was $5.38 each last month.)

We have about 20 old prescriptions going back up to 20+ years... most solid tablets, and kept in a cool place. The "pain" pills have lost some effect, but still work.

Have had a number of blood pressure, pre-diabetes and statin drugs over the past ten years, but blood tests say they're not needed any longer... all numbers on my blood panel are low or normal, so have turned them over to friends who still use them. No problems.

Some other prescriptions were prescribed for short term dental, rash, itch and stuff like that.

The one I'd like to see some testing and honesty about is the epi-pen. One year life span. Expensive for a family with kids, where pens are needed at school, in the car, and at home...

My doctor is pretty smart and straight arrow, When I tell him of my frugal habit, he doesn't say it's okay, but he doesn't tell me not to do it...

It's just what we do... not recommending one way or another. Doesn't take too many prescriptions to add up to a few thousand dollars/yr, even with Plan D insurance.

The other part of the drug costs involve drugs that are set up for renewal, but are never adjusted, when the problem resolves.

Am thinking that along with a number of other studies of pharma practices, that this should be high priority.

I don't disagree with the philosophy of retaining older drugs - in the vast majority of cases, they will be just fine. However, I do want to point out that passing prescription medicine on to friends and family is against the law and could open you up to outright legal issues as well as significant liability risks. So, please tread carefully with that

 

[kitesurfer2]

don't keep your medial mj in the freezer for long term storage or the refrigerator either. a glass jar in a cool dark place is advisable.

 

[MRG]

don't keep your medial mj in the freezer for long term storage or the refrigerator either. a glass jar in a cool dark place is advisable.

Why?

 

[kitesurfer2]

Why?

I read, storage in the fridge can cause mold. plastic bags let air in so store in glass jars. do not store in freezer as the trichomes get brittle and fall off.

 

[redduck]

... do not store in freezer as the trichomes get brittle and fall off.

Yes, this does happen. I stayed too long in a walk-in freezer and my trichomes became brittle and fell off. Luckily, the a doctor in the emergency room was able to reattach them. She said she sees 2-3 cases like this every year.

 

[JustCurious]

"Pharmacists and researchers say there is no economic “win” for drug companies to investigate further. They ring up more sales when medications are tossed as “expired” by hospitals, retail pharmacies and consumers despite retaining their safety and effectiveness."

This quote from the article is the heart of the issue... drug companies have a strong financial incentive to require pharmacies and hospitals to throw away perfectly good drugs in the trash and then go out and buy more (and by using artificially short expiration dates they strongly encourage consumers to do the same), and that financial incentive far outweighs their incentive to provide expiration dates that have a rational relationship to reality.

I have always ignored "expiration dates" on medication that does not have to be refrigerated, such as pills and tablets. As long as you keep them in a relatively cool and dry place, they can be used indefinitely (with reason). I have never had an issue with drugs not working as intended or having negative effects even though I have routinely used pills and tablets that are years past the so called "expiration date" provided by the drug company.