Posted by chemist on April 26, 2005, at 1:00:25
In reply to Re: Expired Prozac - Big Pharma Greed, posted by university on April 26, 2005, at 0:26:32
> > The military did a study on this very topic. The length of the study was 9 years and then it ran out of money. During that period of time almost no drug had any change in potency either over the counter or prescription. Antibiotics, antifungals and anti-virals were the exception.
> >
> > Scott
>
> Thanks, Scott, and everyone. Scott: do you have any information that might lead me to the results of the study; were they ever published--even partially--anywhere?
>
> I have long suspected that drug expiration dates were largely a convenient way for drug companies and others to make even more money. Consumers will generally ignore such corporate "warnings," except when it comes to drugs, a world about which the average consumer knows very, very little. I mean, it surprises me how many people look at a typical American drug store aisle--say the allergy/cold aisle--and do not realize that of all of those hundreds of products--of all of those ostensible "choices," only a few drugs actually exist. Indeed, only a few drug *types* exist in such an aisles.
>
> So when a manufacturer states "Expiration date XX/XX on a package of diphenhydramine, the unwitting consumer who bought it once for Tommy's sniffles and used one dose will likely--even gladly--buy a fresh package the next time s/he needs it. Ditto Rx drugs.
>
> I guess it takes consumers forced for whatever reason(s) (in our cases, depression and its oft-required trial-and-error cycles) to actually learn something about drugs to begin to see things for what they are.
>
> I was just lamenting the drug companies' tendency to make more and more drugs OTC (e.g., Nicorette, Claritin, NSAIDs, acid inhibitors) in an attempt to make more money (as many consumers would pay, perhaps, $10 for a 30-day supply of Claritin under insurance, but now must pay up to $50 for the same amount) the other day. My colleague, who is a smart person, said "yeah, but they have to wait a certain amount of time before they can go OTC..." In other words, she was confusing the patent-expiration process with drugs suddenly becoming "safe enough" to be OTC.
>
> Don't get me wrong, I rather like having more of a variety of OTC drugs--I just don't like the reasons (I believe) they've become OTC.
>
> Sorry for the nonsequiter/rant :) Just a pet peeve of mine...
>hello there, chemist here...i am not aware of the military study mentioned by scott, yet it rings true. the expiration dates are largely for our collective safety.
most people store medication in the restroom/loo: this is arguably the worst place to store a chemical formulation that will in fact undergo change, if you will, in a humid and warm environment. it also invites curious visitors to help themselves to things they ought leave well enough alone. no person wants to be the one who calls the parent of a child who just ingested the ``pretty candy'' that they discovered in their playmate's parent's medicine chest.
the u.s. FDA keeps an updated Orange Book - google it - available on-line. you may enter generic or brand names and get information on therapeutic equivalence (TE). the creams and ointments usually come up short against the brand name, as the delivery system is done on the cheap, and bioequivalence is not achieved in requisite time. tablets and capsules in general are rated AB (AA is the gold standard).
any medication in liquid form should be stored as directed and consumed before expiration. why? if you leave a medication that contains ethyl alcohol and water in the warm glow of the sun - perched on a windowsill - and do not tighten the cap, the EtOH will evaporate first, and the medication - which is likely less soluble in water than in the miscible water/EtOH blend - will precipitate and/or become concentrated in time.
foil-packed tabs should go the distance, as scott rightly asserts. however, foil does have a way of peeling back, and 6 or 7 years is plenty of time for at least a bit of product degradation to occur. if the greed of the pharmas is on your radar, you can do a double-whammy: get a new script for generic fluoxetine, thus ensuring that your meds are fresh while depriving the folks at lilly with income for their off-patent product.
the FDA orange book is at:
http://www.fda.gov/cder/ob/default.htm
i just entered fluoxetine and see that solution, capsule, and tablet are available....all the best, chemist
poster:chemist
thread:489291
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050423/msgs/489637.html