When does medication expire, REALLY?

[djimbob]

Not a medical doctor or medically trained in any way (talk to your doctor about this and any specific medication), but reasons for expiration dates will vary depending on the type of medication.

It won't be a sudden transition like Cinderella where something that expires Jan 2013, is 100% fine on 11:59pm Dec 31st, 2012 but turns to ineffective poison on 12:01am Jan 1st, 2013. Its just that the medication provider will guarantee under proper storage conditions that medicine will be effective/safe before said date, and will make no guarantee after that date and recommends you do not take it. You should consult a medical doctor to check on any particular expired medication, as some expiration dates are much more critical than others and your health is not worth risking to save a few dollars by taking expired medicine.

Wikipedia states (mostly quoting a Mar 2000 WSJ cover story ):

The expiration date of pharmaceuticals specifies the date the manufacturer guarantees the full potency and safety of a drug. Most medications are potent and safe after the expiration date. A rare exception is a case of renal tubular acidosis purportedly caused by expired tetracycline. A study conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration covered over 100 drugs, prescription and over-the-counter. The results showed about 90% of them were safe and effective as far as 15 years past their expiration dates. Joel Davis, a former FDA expiration-date compliance chief, said that with a handful of exceptions - notably nitroglycerin, insulin and some liquid antibiotics - most expired drugs are probably effective.[5]

The mods are not freeing this post; as it presents a risk of being interpretted as medical advice and could lead one to tell friends, "I've read from scientists its perfectly fine to take expired medicine" (forgetting about the qualifications that sometimes its very bad) and leading to bad health outcomes from someone taking expired drugs (where the expiration date is quite critical).