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Most medicines, whether prescription, over-the-counter (OTC), or complementary, are stamped with expiry dates: the final date at which the manufacturer can guarantee its full potency and effectiveness.
But what happens to a medicine after that date? Is it still safe to use? And, if it isn’t, can you just throw it in the bin?
The Self-Medication Manufacturers Association of South Africa (SMASA) provided these tips to Kempton Express:
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According to Harvard Health Publications (2015), a study conducted by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found that almost 90% of more than 100 drugs were safe and effective, as many as 15 years after the expiry date. Additionally, a 2012 report by pharmacist and toxicologist, Lee Cantrell, also found that 12 out of 14 compounds that had been stored for more than 30 years were still as potent as they were at manufacture.
The stability of these substances suggests that many medicines may still be safe to use after their expiry date. Anderson (2014) cautions, however, that since their potency can be affected by their ingredients and storage conditions, it’s hard to say which products will last longer than others. Plus, the medicines in the FDA and other studies were unopened and stored in ideal conditions; something that isn’t the case at home.
In other words: while it may be likely that medicines are still potent after the expiry date, outside of controlled conditions, there’s no guarantee that they are. And, for many medicines, illnesses, and patients, that remains a dangerous scenario.
A medicine losing some of its potency isn’t necessarily a problem if you’re treating something minor, like a headache, Anderson (2014) said. But when you’re taking an antibiotic, even a slight loss of potency can impact on your recovery and contribute to antibiotic resistance; a very serious and growing problem across the world.
Further, if the medicine is being taken for a more serious illness, like a heart condition, epilepsy, or a threatening allergy, a loss of potency can be deadly. So, if you’re considering taking an expired medication, it’s important to consider these factors first.
Some medicines fare better than others over time. According to Anderson (2014), solid drugs, like tablets and capsules, tend to retain the most potency, while medicines that are solution or suspension-based, or those that need to be refrigerated, retain less.
When throwing unused or expired medicines away, it’s important not to throw them in the bin or to flush them down the drain or toilet. This is because most medicines don’t occur naturally in the environment, not in the format you’re taking them.
Because of this, when medicines break down, their main ingredients affect the ecosystem, either being consumed by animals or seeping into the soil and contaminating the water.
Medicines flushed down the toilet make their way to water treatment facilities that are not designed to screen or filter for these substances. For instance, in a 2002 geological study in the US, 80% of 139 surveyed streams contained measurable traces of prescription and non-prescription medicines, steroids and hormones.
In the short-term, this affects the reproductive health of fish. Long-term, no one knows.
There are a few safe ways to dispose of unused medicines; the safest of which is through your pharmacy.
Still not sure what to do with your expired medicine? Chat to your local pharmacist or healthcare professional. They’ll point you and your family in the right, and the safest, direction.
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