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When you are given a prescription by your doctor, or your veterinarian
prescribes a medication for your pet, you are usually given a specific amount of
medication meant to be given as prescribed, until the medication is completely
finished. However, veterinarians, physicians and pharmacists know that it is
common for people to stop taking or giving a medication when once the symptoms
go away. In other words, when you receive a prescription, you only use part of
the capsules, pills or liquid and have some left over. This begs the questions -
what do you do with the leftover medication, can you keep it for future use, and
when does it expire?
All medications come from the manufacturer with an expiration date on the
bottle. When dispensed into a pill vial, this date may or may not be put onto
the prescription label, depending on labeling regulations in your community. As
a general rule, this expiration date represents a ‘best before' date, related to
the chemical stability of the product. However, outside factors can influence
the shelf life of medications, including exposure to light, heat, humidity,
improper storage of products that should be refrigerated, etc.
To some extent, the formulation of a product determines its stability. Pills
and capsules that are stored in a clean, dry, sealed container at room
temperature tend to have a reasonably long shelf life. Exceptions to this
include Vitamin C and essential fatty acids, which break down rapidly if exposed
to air. If the medication is a powder that is reconstituted with liquid before
use, it tends to be reasonably stable before reconstitution. Once mixed with
water, liquid medications have a short shelf life that can range from a few
hours for an injectable product to a few days or weeks for an orally
administered product. Storage and handling are critical factors in preserving
the shelf-life for liquid medications; some may need to be refrigerated, while
others will break down more rapidly if refrigerated; some liquids must be shaken
well before use, while others, such as insulin, must never be shaken.
In some cases, the medication will change its appearance or consistency as it
breaks down. Before you use any liquid medication, inspect the liquid for
abnormalities - for example, if it was previously clear and it is now cloudy -
even if it has NOT expired - DON'T use it. Pills or capsules change their
texture with age, and may become crumbly, hard or sticky. Because some
medications do not undergo a change in appearance when they are expired, as a
general rule you should discard any liquid medication 2 weeks after it was mixed
and discard any pills or capsules 6 months after it was dispensed. This is the
rationale behind recommending that you clean out your medicine cabinet twice a
year and discard any expired products. Never flush expired medication down a
drain or throw it into the garbage; instead contact your veterinarian or
pharmacist for advice on safe disposal in an environmentally friendly manner.
And remember -- using a product after it has expired may put your pet at risk
- in most cases, the product will not be as effective, but the occasional
product may become toxic or cause serious side-effects. Even when times are
tough, is it really worth the risk to your pet from using expired medications?
Caution: These news items, written by Lifelearn Inc., are
licensed to this practice for the personal use of our clients. Any copying,
printing or further distribution is prohibited without the express written
permission of Lifelearn Inc. Please note that the news information presented
here is NOT a substitute for a proper consultation and/or clinical examination
of your pet by our clinic veterinarian.
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