How can I check whether a medicine has expired if the print date is not clear?

How can I check whether a medicine has expired if the print date is not clear?

The expiration of medicines is a sanitary measure to guarantee their safety, quality and efficacy. You should not consume a medicine without knowing the date on which it expires, as the properties of the medicine could be affected and affect your health.

Meaning of the different dates on medicines

Expiration date

Preferred consumption date

Elaboration date

Batch

The expiration date of medicines is a crucial aspect when deciding if the drug in question is safe to use and if it will work as expected.

The expiration date can be found on the box, container, container (jars, bottles...) and labeling of the medicines; and it is not very different from other expiration dates that we know in other products, such as food, for example.

When a medicine is manufactured, a series of studies are carried out to determine its expiration date, which are called 'stabilities', and which precisely indicate its stability. Thus, if the study indicates that the drug is stable for 24 months, this means that it has an expiration date of that time. This stability or expiration varies between different drugs.

The expiration of medicines is a sanitary measure to guarantee their safety, quality and efficacy. You should not consume a medicine without knowing the date on which it expires, as the properties of the medicine could be affected and affect your health.

It is the date until which the stability of the drug is guaranteed in its original packaging or container, not opened or manipulated and preserved in adequate conditions .

Expiration symbol less than five years 

Medicines have a legally established maximum expiration limit of 5 years. It could be less than 5 years and will be indicated on the medication carton with the symbol of a black hourglass.

If the carton is expressed according to the following format 00/0000, that is, two figures that indicate the month and four figures that indicate the year, the expiration date is the last day of the indicated month.

Example: CAD: 04/2020, CAD means expiration date. It is expressed in month/year (00/0000) In the example, the medication expires on April 30, 2020, that is, it can be consumed including the last day of April and not May 1, 2020.

medical device expiration symbol  This symbol accompanies the expiration date of medical devices.

Example: 2021-06, that is, it should not be used beyond June 30, 2021

In some other product the expiration date could be expressed as EXP (expiration or expiration date)

Example: 11/2019, means that its expiration date is November 30, 2019.

Multi-dose medications and their expiration.

Multidose medicines are those that are opened several times for administration, such as syrup or eye drops. This may alter the stability of the drug which may pose potential risks to the patient related to both the effect and the safety of the drug. Therefore, once the multi-dose container is opened, the period of validity is no longer determined by the expiration date, but is usually a shorter period.

Syrups, suspensions, oral solutions:

The expiration of medicines is a sanitary measure to guarantee their safety, quality and efficacy. You should not consume a medicine without knowing the date on which it expires, as the properties of the medicine could be affected and affect your health.

In some other product the expiration date could be expressed as EXP (expiration or expiration date)

Example: 11/2019, means that its expiration date is November 30, 2019.

The expiration date that appears on the container of an eye drop refers to its expiration while the container remains intact before opening it. Once opened, there is a risk of microbial contamination. Generally, the shelf life once opened is usually reflected on the carton and/or on the prospectus. In the event that it does not appear reflected, it is recommended that it be a maximum period of 4 weeks.

It is convenient to write down the opening date of the eye drops and indicate until what date it would be valid for use.

Important

There are single- dose presentations that must be discarded once used and should never be stored even if there is any amount left over.

Do you know the difference between the expiration date and the best before date?

Can you eat "expired" food? How can I know if the date indicated on the food is the expiration date or the best before date? Are there differences between the two? Next we solve your doubts.

On food labeling we can find  two types of dates that are  very useful to guarantee the safe consumption of food:

The "best before" date  indicates the time until which the food retains its intended quality. It is the date until which the food retains its properties. It is indicated by the mention:

Best before...  followed by the  day/month/year  or

Best before the end of...  followed by the  month/year  or just the  year .

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The “use by” date  indicates the time until which the food can be safely consumed. The expiration date appears on highly perishable products, such as fresh fish or minced meat. It is indicated by the mention:

Expiration date...  followed by the  day/month  and eventually the  year.

In the case of  frozen meat and fish products  the  "freezing date" must be included .

What happens if I take an expired medication?

Medications should always be taken before the expiration date stated on the packaging.

The use of expired medicines can be dangerous for people's health.

When this period of stability is completed, the drug expires and then it cannot be guaranteed that it will act in the same way as when it was on the date suitable for consumption, nor can it be guaranteed that its efficacy is adequate. In addition, if the expiration date is exceeded, impurities could grow in the medicine that can put the patient's health at risk.

If you've accidentally taken an expired medicine for a minor ailment like a cold or a headache, don't worry, it won't work at worst. On the other hand, if it is an essential medicine for the treatment of a serious or chronic disease, consult your reference health professional, since the potential lack of efficacy could harm your health.

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This article explains what an expiration date is and how it is determined, why medications lose their effectiveness, and which medications it is important to be especially careful with the expiration date.

What does the expiration date of a medication mean and how is it determined?

The expiration date can be found on the packaging of all medicines and indicates the end of the period during which its efficacy and safety are guaranteed, provided it has been stored in adequate conditions of temperature, light and humidity. The manufacturing laboratory determines the expiration date from the results of so-called stability studies, which subject the drugs to extreme environmental conditions for 6-12 months. For this reason, each medication has a different expiration date, which can range from 12 to 60 months.

How should I store medications to preserve their effectiveness?

The expiration date is no longer valid when the package is opened or damaged.

In general, it is recommended to store medicines in a cool, dry place, out of direct sunlight, and for some types of medicines such as vaccines or insulins, follow the specific instructions for keeping them in the fridge.

In addition, the conditions of use that some medicines have, such as eye drops or reconstituted syrups, must be respected once the container has been opened. 

Why can expired medicines lose effectiveness?

Whether a medicine remains effective after its expiration date depends on different factors, such as the type of active substance, the presence of preservatives, temperature fluctuations, light and humidity. However, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to identify which drugs might be effective beyond the expiration date. 

With which medicines should be taken special care?

In general, solid medications, such as tablets or capsules, are the most stable. Liquid forms such as syrups, especially reconstituted ones, eye drops or injectables present more stability problems. You should be especially careful with injectable medications and should never inject a cloudy solution, whether it is out of date or not.

You must take special care and ensure that medicines essential for the treatment of chronic diseases, such as insulin for diabetes or rescue inhalers, such as Ventolin ® (salbutamol) for example, are always used within the expiration date. asthma. Medications that, although not used daily, are essential in a medical emergency, such as Solinitrin ® (nitroglycerin) for angina pectoris or medications used for anaphylactic shock (sudden allergic reaction) , should be periodically checked for date and serious), for example the EpiPen ® (epinephrine).

I have taken an expired medicine... can it be toxic?

Only one case of poisoning has been documented as a consequence of ingesting an expired antibiotic and, therefore, it seems highly improbable that the ingestion of an expired medicine has toxic effects on health. Even so, it is NOT recommended to take expired medications.

The expiration date of medicines is a crucial aspect when deciding if the drug in question is safe to use and if it will work as expected.

The expiration date can be found on the box, container, container (jars, bottles...) and labeling of the medicines; and it is not very different from other expiration dates that we know in other products, such as food, for example.

When a medicine is manufactured, a series of studies are carried out to determine its expiration date, which are called 'stabilities', and which precisely indicate its stability. Thus, if the study indicates that the drug is stable for 24 months, this means that it has an expiration date of that time. This stability or expiration varies between different drugs.

What are the risks of taking expired medications?

The use of expired medicines can be dangerous for people's health.

When this period of stability is completed, the drug expires and then it cannot be guaranteed that it will act in the same way as when it was on the date suitable for consumption, nor can it be guaranteed that its efficacy is adequate. In addition, if the expiration date is exceeded, impurities could grow in the medicine that can put the patient's health at risk.

What to do with expired medicines or those that we do not need?

When we see that a medicine has reached its expiration date, we must read the package insert and follow the instructions specified in it regarding the correct way to proceed, which is by taking them to the SIGRE Point of the pharmacy.

This information is included in point 5 of the leaflets, with the following legend: “Medicines should not be thrown down the drain or in the trash. Deposit the containers and medicines you don't need at the SIGRE Point of the pharmacy. If in doubt, ask your pharmacist how to dispose of medicines you don't need. This way you will help to protect the environment."

To the SIGRE Point we can take the following:

Expired medications  .

Medicines  that we no longer need .

medicine boxes

Empty containers or with remains .

It is also very important to know what  we should not deposit  at this point:

needles.

thermometers.

Gauze.

Chemical products.

X-rays.

Batteries.

In this way, taking expired medicines to this point, we guarantee that this type of very special waste will be given the appropriate environmental treatment, and we will prevent it from harming the environment and our environment.

And with the medicines that are left over after finishing a treatment?

When we take a prescription drug we can differentiate between two types of treatments; the chronic ones and those of a specific duration of time. In the latter case, it may happen that at the end of the treatment we have some medication left over. In these cases we must also take the medicines that we have left over to the SIGRE Point, even if they have not expired, to avoid possible accidental poisoning.

To ensure that we do not store remains of old treatments or medicines, it is advisable to review the contents of the first-aid kit periodically every 6 or 12 months.

Tips to follow:

1. When you buy a medication, before storing it, mark the expiration date on the container so you can see it easily.

Use, for example, a brightly colored marker.

2.Check the contents of the first-aid kit periodically every 6 or 12 months,

in order to verify the expiration date and the good condition of the medicines and other elements that compose it.

3. Do not use a medicine if it has expired.

4.Do not throw expired medicines down drains or in the trash.

Always take them to the SIGRE Point of the pharmacy.

5.Also discard leftover drugs after a treatment that you have already finished .

Do not save the remains for other occasions.