Cherryb asked
My drug Dexilant expired in 2013. Can I still take it?
Answer
Questions about whether or not it is safe to take an expired drug are one of the most common inquiries we get at PharmacistAnswers. The answer, unfortunately, isn't entirely straightforward.
On the surface, the vast majority of pharmacists and medical professionals will say that you should not use a medication beyond the expiration date. This is partly due to legal reasons and partly due to the fact that there really is no way to tell if a medication has lost potency over time.
In terms of the legality, if by chance something were to happen to a patient after taking an expired medication per a pharmacist's advice, the pharmacist could very likely be in legal hot water. For this reason alone, I can't imagine you'll ever have a medical professional recommend taking expired medication unless there was some sort of extenuating circumstance.
Potency
Aside from the legal issue, what is really at play here with expired medication is that you can't really tell if the medication will be as potent as it once was.[1]
When a manufacturer comes out with a medication to the marketplace, they perform stability tests and from these tests, they determine their own expiration date. The stability tests go for a limited amount of time, say 3-4 years.
After this period there isn't any data as to whether or not the drug is stable so the expiration is marked for however long the manufacturer has data for.
While manufacturers could perform stability tests for years and years out, they don't really have any financial incentive to do so (if a drug expires in 2 years, then a pharmacy will have to repurchase the medication if it did expire).
Since there is no data beyond a certain point, it is impossible to definitively say that a given drug will be as effective as it once was when it is beyond expiration.
Dangers
Very rarely, some drugs have been associated with certain medical issues if they are used past expiration. In the 1960s, a drug known as tetracycline was associated with kidney damage if it was taken after expiration.[2]
However, there is some controversy regarding whether or not the tetracycline had actually degraded into something harmful.
As far as we know, the vast majority of drugs don't degrade into harmful substances.
Drugs like aspirin have an identifiable scent when they begin to break down (aspirin breaks down into acetic acid, which is why it can smell like vinegar), but it isn't actually harmful to take. It just may not work as well.
Extension Program
Having said all of the above, in the mid-1980s, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) did a study testing the potency of expired drugs that the military had on hand. They found that the vast majority of drugs had around 70-80% potency after 10 years if stored in the original container![3]
So, in all likelihood, for most medications, even if they are past their expiration date, they are probably going to be at least somewhat effective.
Final Words
Going back to Dexilant, we just don't know if it will be any good a this is a lot of information for your question, but there isn't really a specific answer. Most likely, your medication is fine to take and will not cause any problems. If anything, it just may not be as potent as it once was.
