Aussies discuss if it is safe to take out-of-date drugs and what to do with expired medications

Australian mums have been sharing their suggestions on what to do with all the sleeves of medications and pain killers they have accumulated in their bathroom cupboard – and if it’s safe to take drugs without knowing the expiry. 

Posting to popular Facebook group Mums Who Cook, Clean and Organise – Australia, one woman asked members how they know if it is safe to take certain medications when you don’t know its expiry dates prompting dozens to offer their advice. 

Many agreed drugs like antibiotics, eye drops and liquid medications should be discarded if the expiry is unknown while pain killers like Panadol and Nurofen are relatively harmless but less effective. 

‘We always have medication that goes out of date. Things like hay fever, Nurofen and some prescription tablets. I usually take them down to the chemist and get them destroyed by them,’ the woman explained in the post. 

‘Question is for the likes of Nurofen, Telfast, off-the-shelf stuff, why can’t you have it passed its use-by? Just seems like such a waste but still need to have it here.’ 

One member who said they ‘work and deal with medications on a daily basis’ offered some guidance. 

‘Pills like antihistamines and pain killers will still be effective after the use-by date, they just lose some of their potency as they get older – with the exceptions of liquids like children’s pain killers and cough syrups,’ they explained. 

‘These should be discarded once they reach their use-by date.’ 

‘They will do you no harm (usually) just lose a small percentage of their effectiveness,’ another agreed. 

‘I need adrenaline for an allergy, it’s expensive to buy and only has a very short shelf life, my GP told me once it loses only about 0.2 per cent of its effectiveness yearly. I keep and use my expired ones.’

Another said they buy their prescription medication in bulk and have never had a problem with them going out of date. 

‘I use some expired medication (excluding antibiotics, eye products or liquids). I buy some of the prescription only medication over seas online in bulk three to four years work keep in the fridge, never had an issue,’ they said. 

Many warned against taking expired drugs especially in the case of antibiotics and liquid medications. 

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‘Some medications can degrade to toxic by-products after the expiry date. All meds start to slowly lose effectiveness after the expiry date,’ one woman said. 

‘In antibiotics, for example, this could potentially encourage superbugs as a subtherapeutic dosage is administered,’ she added. 

A second said she never uses eye drops past a few weeks. 

‘The concern for eye medications is usually that once they are opened and used the potential for bacteria growth is really high and you don’t want to mess around with infections in your eyes,’ she wrote. 

‘Eye drops are one thing I religiously discard within about a week.’  

Most health sources say medications are best not used after their expiry and to discard pills if you’re not sure about their use-by date. 

According to pharmacy chain Now RX, as long as a drug doesn’t become toxic after it expires the user won’t have any adverse side effects. 

‘However, the more time that has passed since the expiration date, the less effective the drug may be,’ the website reads. 

‘This may make you feel as though you need to take more of the medication, but it’s critical to avoid this temptation. If the medication isn’t working, dispose of it and replace it with a new medication.’