(PCM) More often that not, people tend to play it safe when it comes to expired medications. Why risk taking something past the expiration date? It either won’t be effective, or worse, it could be dangerous, right? Well, not exactly.
A new laboratory analysis of eight prescription drugs that expired between 28 and 40 years ago found that most of them have remained just as potent as the day they were made! The drugs tested included 14 different active ingredients, including aspirin, codeine, and hydrocodone. In 86% of cases, the amount of active ingredient present in the drugs was at least 90% of the amount indicated on the label, the study found.
That also means that 86 percent of the drugs are within the acceptable range set in place by the FDA, which requires that drugs contain between 90% and 110% of the stated active ingredient.
“All [the expiration date] means from the manufacturers’ standpoint is that they’re willing to guarantee the potency and efficacy for the drug for that long,” says Lee Cantrell, the lead author of the study and a professor of clinical pharmacy at the University of California, San Francisco. “It has nothing to do with the actual shelf life.”
Cantrell adds that expired drugs are generally safe, although consistently taking expired prescription drugs could cause complications. So, be careful, and talk to your doctor before taking any old medications you find around the house.
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