When Good Medicine Goes Bad

The expiration date on your pill bottle says discard after January 4. It's January 5 and the bottle's half full (or is that half empty?). Do you try to squeeze in a few more doses from the bottle or do you toss those final precious pills?

In most cases, taking drugs a little bit past the expiration date won't hurt - if you have stored the medication properly, in a cool, dry and dark place.

On the other hand, a medication kept in less- than-optimal conditions - for example, if you've kept it on a sunny window or in a steamy bathroom medicine cabinet - can go bad even before it officially expires. Sun exposure, heat and moisture can all affect medication, says Don Miller, PharmD, professor and chairman of the department of pharmacy practice at North Dakota State University and a member of Arthritis Today's medical advisory board.

Fortunately, even if you take an expired medication, it probably won't hurt you - at least not directly. The biggest danger of using an expired medication is that it won't help. "After the expiration date, drugs start to lose their benefit," Miller says, "and the potency of the medicine cannot be guaranteed."

There are exceptions to every rule, of course. Aspirin and the tetracycline antibiotics can break down into products that can be damaging to kidneys.

If you're ever in doubt about a medication that is near or past its expiration date or just doesn't look right, it's best to ask your pharmacist about it or just throw it out. Better to lose a few pills than to lose out on the benefits of medication you need.

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