Can you get sick by taking expired medication?
Thank you for your A2A request. In general, it is unlikely you can get sick from taking expired medicine. The concern is more with a loss in the potency of the drug as manufacturers do not do long-term studies on the viability of the drug after the expiry date.Interestingly enough the US military has tested drugs to see if their potency remained a decade after expiry date and found that most of the medicines contained the original potency. It seems that medication in liquid form loses their drug potency after the drug has expired.Drug Expiration Dates — Do They Mean Anything? - Harvard HealthIt is always better to be on the safer side and take non-expired prescription medications; ask your pharmacist as they would be an excellent resource.
Is expired cough medicine harmful?
The expiration date helps you know when the chemical will lose its strength, but not because it becomes weaker, but because the exposure to light, air and many other factors causes it to breakdown or recombine with other elements forming a new substance. They warn you not to take expired medicine because many times poisons are formed that can harm you when ingested
Is it dangerous to take expired cough medicine? Why or why not?
Please note that this answer is not based on fact, it's based on anecdotal evidence, second hand information, and personal experience and opinion:When pharmaceutical companies place an expiry date on a product, that is the time frame that they GUARANTEE it will have 100% effectiveness. As time goes by, products will have gradually less and less effectiveness, as the ingredients, whether active or not, will degrade and become less and less effective.This means that scientific studies and trials have determined that the average, or perhaps minimum time it takes for a product to be anything less than 100% effective is X months. There will always be a huge safety margin to avoid litigation.So in answer to your question, just because a drug, even cough syrup, has expired by a few or even several months, does not mean that it won't work or is harmful, it just means it may only be, say, 95% effective. It's when products start getting into years past expiration date that they start becoming dangerous. If something is a few months past expiration date in my PERSONAL drug cupboard, I have never had any issue with taking it.Again, not science based, and I hope someone else can provide a more infallible answer.
What Happens if You take Expired Medicine?
The expiration date mainly means that the medication is effective up until that date. After that it starts to break down and the ingredients lose their potency. It shouldn't really make him sick. Some pharmacists/pharmacies actually send their expired medications to countries that can't afford prescription medication, and they work just fine for those people.
Help! I took expired robitussin!?
I took the medicine and like an idiot, looked at the expiration date AFTERWARDS. It expired 07/10. I am really worried now, what do I do??? Am I going to get sick?
I took expired aspirin on accident?
I took 2 tablets of expired aspirin a few hours ago. I was wondering why my headaches seemed to get worse....so I checked the date and it had expired in 2008. I read nothing bad will happen....just lost of effectiveness but I do have some tylenol left that isn't expired. Can I take this after I took the aspirin? I'm trying to get rid of a headache possible caused by expired shampoo....yea....I know......right...stupid expiration dates
I took expired Excedrin!?
You will be fine. The worst thing that can happen is that the active ingredients in the medication (aspirin, acetaminophen (Tylenol), and caffeine) have degraded somewhat and won't be as effective. Chances are that, despite it being expired for a little over a year, it would still work just as well as a new bottle. I'd say it's fine to continue taking it if it is still working. If not, or if you are still concerned, just toss it out and buy a new bottle. Or tell your boss to buy a new bottle. :) Don't stress out over this. It really is no problem whatsoever. It's not like food which goes bad and can make you sick. Expired medication is not like that.
Am I going to get sick for taking expired Nasonex?
The dating is protection for the maker. They could care less about YOU. An expiration date on medicine usually means that the medicine will lose it's effectiveness by that date and should be thrown away.