Shelf life of medications.....

[BDBHoover]

So I've been wondering something...... I want to include some medications/antibiotics into my preps/BoB because we all know injury and infection would be a real possibility in a SHTF scenario.... I'm just wondering about the shelf life of unopened medications including antibiotics that are in a standard pill bottle.... Should we actually dispose of them after the expiration date?? I was under the impression that the expiration dates have always been more of a guideline than an actual "throw me away" date.... What are your thoughts INGO?

 

[Dragon]

Some great info here and actually more than I've ever found in one place. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph0LtznsDH8&feature=plcp[/ame]

 

[Double T]

As far as antibiotics go, you really should abide by the use by date as their half life can be pretty wonky, would suck to get a resistant infection also.

Other stuff, might be ok.

 

[themadmedic]

Depends on what it is and the conditions in which it is stored...some stuff will loose efficacy while others will become toxic.

 

[ArmedRPh]

Interesting video. Most of that isn't too surprising. I guess there are a few counterpoints I'd like to make to what she said.
1. the study she was citing didn't make any claims to the storage conditions of the medications. If they were in their original stock bottles, sealed with the desiccants, then sure, I'd have no problem adding a year or two to the expiration date. What scares me is when people assume that keeping them in the amber vial it was dispensed to them stored in the bathroom is the same thing. Nope, not even close. Light, heat and humidity kills meds faster than anything. Oddly enough, the medicine cabinet may be the worst place to keep them. I would always encourage my patients to keep them bedside or on a tall dresser if there are kids in the house.
2. Hospitals are not throwing away Cipro. She acted as though her hospital was tossing millions in Cipro in the trash on a yearly basis. Due to antibiotic resistance, antibiotics should really only be dispensed on a need-to-take basis, and then they should be taken completely. Not just until I feel better. Then you are left with a partial dose of an old antibiotic that may have not been stored properly (See point 1), which if you do take it has a pretty good chance of only exposing the bacteria at work to a sub-therapeutic dose and setting you up for resistance which requires bigger, badder and more expensive therapy to deal with. Not a good idea.
3. If you are going to prep/store the usual rules of thumb are 1.liquids are the first to go bad. 2.Gunpowder and drugs like the same storage conditions, dark, dry and cool. (please don't store them in the same container, ick) And 3.rotate your stock if you can.

Finally, don't blame the manufacturers/FDA for everything like she did. Think about it. The idea behind an expiration date is to establish a time after which the manufacturer will no longer stand behind the effects of the drug because it has been out of their control for too long. If they didn't set a date, they would be facing lawsuits because someone had a seizure after taking 30 year old phenobarbital that didn't work anymore. I'm sure marketing had something to do with it, but I'd put it as more of a CYA move than anything else. My 2 cents.

 

[themadmedic]

I would focus training and resources on other higher yield topics if not already medically trained such as wound care, etc.

ArmedRPh makes good points, and from my time on the opposite side of the Rx pad I'd share that using the wrong antibiotic at the wrong time...or medication in general can make a bad situation worse...