Expiration date does not matter

Is it possible that pharmaceutical companies just use expiration dates on their products so that people have to buy them alot more often. Some medications run in the triple digits, so hypothetically the big corporations would be making alot of extra money with this scam.

What are your ideas on the subject?

Can a medicine actually expire?

I just checked around my home for expiration dates.....

I can find dates on my vitamins, an ointment and a "hot lemon relief"

I found a pack of AA batteries that are good until the year 2011, and my cheddar cheese will hold up until January 2006.

But the 7 bottles of prescription drugs that I found, do not have any expiration date on them. The only date on the label is when it was sold by the pharmacist.

Oh! And in answer to your question.....
Yes, a drug can expire. Not all chemical compounds are stable and can break down over time. The simple exposure to air, light or the wrong temperature can change a drug.
The dates are on there for a reason, and I don't think it's there to make the multinational pharmaceutical companies richer. They seem to be doing quite well charging $400.00 for 30 pills to keep people going for anouther month.
And people like Phizer are keeping the world happy by selling Viagra at a high price so that they get rich and you can get it up.(this has become one of the most successful drugs of all time)(maybe Valium did better )

So keep it up, and keep it mellow. We need them, and they need us.....

[edit on 7-6-2005 by anxietydisorder]

certain medicines lose their effectiveness [ like penicillins ] I'd NEVER EVER use old penicillin, EVER !

I'd also say vitamins with an expiration date are valid as well...they just lose their value /potency after a while. [but probably won't make you sick ]

you can lengthen the shelf life of drugs/vitamins/foods, by refrigerating them....but give them a whiff if they are past the expiration date.

I'd say [ just a guess mind you ] that aspirin can probably be safely used within a year or 2 of expiration date . or calcium tablets , or baking soda or other non-active items should be good , way past the date. [ ask your pharmacist , they are quite knowledgable and usually willing to inform.]

your prescribed drugs, are probably good for a year...but the prescription most likey expires b 4 that. and with the screwballs we have that are writing laws , you could end up in front of a judge etc if you fail a piss test [ for work ] due to an old prescription you decided to use or some other faux pax. or perhaps u decided to give some to a friend [ who then got sick cuz of them ] then there are liability monsters that appear and the nightmare really starts...

be careful...

Good info.......

Thanks for the responses.


Do you think that the companies sometimes use the Placebo Effect towards their advantadge?

...keep in mind that it is extremely expensive to research and pass drugs.

Because prescription drugs are given with a set number or amount with them and instructions on how to take them and for how long.

example: take 2 pills a day, twice a day for 20 days.

You can fool some of the people, some of the time.
But you can't fool all of the people, all of the time.

If a drug doesn't work, it shows up in results. Or it shows up years later when the trusting populous starts dying from some effect that was unexpected, or anticipated but swept under the rug inorder to get the drug to market faster.

I can see a doctor putting some harmless pills into a bottle to placate a patient that wants treatment for an imaginary ailment. But beyond that???
I don't think the drug companies would risk the potential legal result of marketing a drug that was just a placebo.

Yes, prescriptions do expire. Hydrogen peroxide, for example is a very unstable compound that breaks into water and oxygen quickly. However, I can tell you that most products take in to consideration human nature. Which is to say if the product says "expires 06-05-05" most people don't get around to throwing it out until a couple months later. So, they set the expiration date for a time BEFORE it actually expires. (They do the same with food stuff, so if you milk "expired" yesterday, chances are it is still good for a couple days). The results, many people a fastidious about cleaning expired stuff and buy more, resulting in higher sales. However, few cases of toxicity poisoning from people using expired medications.

This is a funny thread, I can't tell you how many medications, since I've been married, i've come across that are over a year passed their expiration. You know like you get a box of cold relief tabs, use two, and don't touch it again until you are sick...and thats 18 months later!

Vitamins start bleeding Iron after a they pass their effective date, I have a massive bottle of "horse pills", that all changed colors. My daughters gummi-vitamins turn hard as a rock after a about two months after opening the bottle.

Thank you for that information, I wondered what the gummi vitamin problem was!

Yeah, ok..

How about you go eat a 7 year old expired turkey and see what the after-effects are..

Then come back and tell us.

-mike

Thanks for the info guys!!!!

The expiration dates aer usaully misleading. They're most likely to be a day or so early to they can cover their tails, but that's no reason to ignore them. Pay good attention to the dates, food does go bad if you pass the date, plus or minus a day or two.

Also, the date is assuming you stowed it properly. Milk outside i.e. NOT in a refridgerator will not last to the date shown.

Drugs like food contain organic substances and are thus prone to an expiration date.

[edit on 6-8-2005 by websurfer]

I was not really talking abou food. I was talking about medicine in particular. My theorey was that a medicine such as "Sudafed", made synthetically, could not have a concievable expiration date. But thanks to Ariande Tau, my speculations were answered.