Drug expiration dates: Do they mean anything?
FDA study gets to the heart of expired medicine and safety.
- Reviewed by Howard E. LeWine, MD, Chief Medical Editor, Harvard Health Publishing
The big question is, do pills expire? With a splitting headache, you reach into your medicine cabinet for some aspirin or ibuprofen only to find the stamped expiration date on the medicine bottle is more than a year out of date. So, does medicine expire? Do you take it or don't you? If you decide to take the medication, will it be a fatal mistake or will you simply continue to suffer from the headache? And how long is a prescription good for?
This is a dilemma many people face in some way or another. A column published in Psychopharmacology Today offers some advice.
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About the Reviewer
Howard E. LeWine, MD, Chief Medical Editor, Harvard Health Publishing
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