Are medicine expiration dates meaningful?

[Homer]

Not always.

Analysis of a cache of decades-old prescription medications discovered in a retail pharmacy has revealed that the potency of most of their ingredients was undiminished even though their expiration dates had passed years earlier.

The researchers worked with samples of 8 medications that had expired 28 to 40 years earlier and contained 15 different active ingredients in all. ...

The results showed that 11 (79%) of the 14 drug compounds were always present in concentrations of at least 90% of the amount indicated on the drug label, which is generally recognized as the minimum acceptable potency.
https://www.pharmacytimes.com/news/some ... ation-date

The names of the 11 drugs that remained potent are stated much more clearly in this article.
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/oct/08 ... y-20121008

The FDA and Dept of Defense Shelf-Life Extension Program (SLEP) tests shelf life to cut costs for the military. The official links described what percent of meds tested were still potent 1 or 5 years past expiration. The drugs were not named. Wouldn't want to take sales from pharmaceutical companies.

[laphanphon]

Yet another big Pharm scam. Fake exp dates to boost sales........shameful.

[J.J.B.]

Yet another big Pharm scam. Fake exp dates to boost sales........shameful.

How is this a shameful scam, exactly? The manufacturers warrant their products’ potency for a set period of time. Similar to cars, bananas, houses, almost anything you buy. If it goes wrong or goes bad within the warranty period you are entitled to seek redress. Nobody is saying the products aren’t effective following the expiration date, just that if they aren’t, usage is at your own risk.

The article is from a few years ago but makes a good point and I’m the first one to ignore expiry dates, especially on common items. It’s hardly a scam, though, in fact it’s far from a scam considering what some companies practice!

[Homer]

Yet another big Pharm scam. Fake exp dates to boost sales........shameful.

Conservative exp dates to prevent lawsuits.