One of the largest studies ever conducted that supports the
above points about "expired drug" labeling was done by the US military 15
years ago, according to a feature story in the Wall Street Journal (March
29, 2000), reported by Laurie P. Cohen. The military was sitting on a $1
billion stockpile of drugs and facing the daunting process of destroying and
replacing its supply every 2 to 3 years, so it began a testing program to
see if it could extend the life of its inventory. The testing, conducted by
the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), ultimately covered more than 100
drugs, prescription and over-the-counter. The results showed that about 90%
of them were safe and effective as far as 15 years past their original
expiration date.

In light of these results, a former director of the testing
program, Francis Flaherty, said he concluded that expiration dates put on by
manufacturers typically have no bearing on whether a drug is usable for
longer. Mr. Flaherty noted that a drug maker is required to prove only that
a drug is still good on whatever expiration date the company chooses to set.
The expiration date doesn't mean, or even suggest, that the drug will stop
being effective after that, nor that it will become harmful. "Manufacturers
put expiration dates on for marketing, rather than scientific, reasons,"
said Mr. Flaherty, a pharmacist at the FDA until his retirement in 1999.
"It's not profitable for them to have products on a shelf for 10 years. They
want turnover."

The FDA cautioned there isn't enough evidence from the program,
which is weighted toward drugs used during combat, to conclude most drugs in
consumers' medicine cabinets are potent beyond the expiration date. Joel
Davis, however, a former FDA expiration-date compliance chief, said that
with a handful of exceptions -- notably nitroglycerin, insulin, and some
liquid antibiotics -- most drugs are probably as durable as those the agency
has tested for the military. "Most drugs degrade very slowly," he said. "In
all likelihood, you can take a product you have at home and keep it for many
years, especially if it's in the refrigerator." Consider aspirin. Bayer AG
puts 2-year or 3-year dates on aspirin and says that it should be discarded
after that. However, Chris Allen, a vice president at the Bayer unit that
makes aspirin, said the dating is "pretty conservative"; when Bayer has
tested 4-year-old aspirin, it remained 100% effective, he said. So why
doesn't Bayer set a 4-year expiration date? Because the company often
changes packaging, and it undertakes "continuous improvement programs," Mr.
Allen said. Each change triggers a need for more expiration-date testing,
and testing each time for a 4-year life would be impractical. Bayer has
never tested aspirin beyond 4 years, Mr. Allen said. But Jens Carstensen
has. Dr. Carstensen, professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin's
pharmacy school, who wrote what is considered the main text on drug
stability, said, "I did a study of different aspirins, and after 5 years,
Bayer was still excellent. Aspirin, if made correctly, is very stable.

Also I hope you had a nice holiday..You have been on my mind and in my prayers ever since reading one of your replies to my post about my daughter..

She continues to attempt to end her life. It is a constant struggle..

Thank you for taking time to post this. It's interesting to know what really goes on behind the scenes.

Wouldn't it be great if these drug companies would chart out the actual losses in potency or dangers that arise after a drug expires. But of course this would defeat their purpose, so we need an altruistic independent third party for such a task.

I fully agree the exp. dates are decided upon more by the profit-motive than by a desire for consumer safety. That's business, it's ugly. I've heard that at least 150,000,000 dollars a year (this is a conservative figure) are used by drug companies to "encourage"--<----euphemism for "bribe"--the legislators to pass favorable laws and limits that help the fat cats' pockets bulge even wider.

I'm also aware that the expired drugs that get sent back to the pharm co's from their distribution centers, i.e., pharmacies, hospitals, doctors, etc., wind up being flown out to places like Botswana and Laos in grand acts of PR-motivated, ostensible generosity.
Where have all the big flowers gone??

Support the knowledge coup,

Revolution!

Most look like they would change little in 50 years, but they are thrown out (or dumped on ebay) once they expire as no hospital wants to be caught using something 'expired'.

Thanks,

Having read the article I posted...I would not hesitate to take it! Go for it!

Happy New Year!

Here is what bothers me about drug expiration dates.
1. I'd like an example of a drug that improves with age.
2. If a drug is old, it should be discounted. WalMart has a bakery discount rack, why don't they have a prescription drug discount rack? HMO's would love this!