E-DRUG: Can expired drug still can be used? (4)
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Dear E-druggers,
The expiry date set up by the pharmaceutical company does not
mean that the drug is found to be ineffective/unstable beyound the cited
date.
In fact, drugs in its SOLID forms (tablets, caplets, powder for
injection, powder....etc) are stable for very long period of time when
stored under appropriate temperature, light exposure, and humidity. An
FDA published data has shown that 84% of 1122 lots of 96 different drug
products stored in military facilities in their ORIGINAL CONTAINERS
would be expected to be stable for an average of 57 months (5 years)
after their original expiration date.
To address your question, medications (tablets, powder, caplets, etc.,)
that are prepacked to create unit dose packages for example are given 6
months to one year expiry date eventhough the original expiry date for
the original containers are longer. The reason for such practice is
based on the assumption of that, an open container could exposed to
humidity, light, other factors that could have negative impact on the
drug stability. However, a simple inspection for the drug would be good
enough to determin its status for use (the drug/tablet is not humid,
look physicaly in good shape, no discoloration, no other sign of
degradation, etc.,)
If the US military follows the 5 year FDA rules using drugs beyound its
cited expiry date because simply those drugs are not expired, this
should be good enough evidence for other countries to follow for saving
money & minimizing waste.
Please obtain The Medical Letter, October 28, 2002 for more information
on this topic. [see the Medical Letter public reading room (requires free registration) http://www.medletter.com/html/prm.htm#ExpDrugs, WB]
Sana R. Sukkari, BScPharm, MPHIL
Oncology/Palliative Care Pharmacist
Burlington, Ontario
Canada