Expiration Dates Matter

This consumer update is brought to you by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
FDA advises consumers not to use medical products after they have expired. Doing so is risky
and could be harmful to your health.
Always read and follow the expiration date on your medical product. Once the expiration
date has passed there is no guarantee that your medicine will be safe or effective.
Expiration dates are an essential tool for ensuring the safety and effectiveness of medicine.
If your medicine has expired its chemical composition may have changed.
This can make your medicine weaker so that it doesn’t provide the treatment you need.
Be sure to read the label for storage instructions. Certain conditions, like the heat or humidity
from showers and baths, can cause your medicine to loose its effectiveness more quickly.
Some medications may even need to be refrigerated.
You may be tempted to use medicine after it has expired. Or you may simply not realize
it has expired.
But either way, FDA advises consumers not to use medical products once the expiration
date has passed.
Expiration dates are a critical part of determining if a medical product is safe to use and will
work as intended. If your medicine has expired, don’t use it.
For more on this and other health topics, go to FDA-dot-gov slash consumer.