Posted by ghost on February 5, 2005, at 18:33:00
In reply to Re: Expired meds :), posted by yxibow on February 5, 2005, at 7:41:10
i did a study on the degradation of drugs when exposed to light and learned a lot about degradation...
first off, pharmacies DO err on the side of caution, and if it's a year after the script was filled, you're good. chances are, the bottle the pills came from have another few yrs of life left in them.
second, if you kept them in a dark, cool spot like a closet, you're going to extend this life. things that degrade drugs: light, heat, humidity.
third, some drugs DO degrade into substances that can be harmful to someone. with that in mind, if you find an old bottle of pills in your car on a hot summer day, i wouldn't take them unless you're really desperate. you could do some research about the degradation products of the drugs (most studies are published). mostly all you have to worry about is a loss of potency, but sometimes it's more than that.
i think what you've got is safe to take. :)
ghost
poster:ghost
thread:451654
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050202/msgs/453727.html