The expiry date is the information that is always on the packaging. The doctor Artur Fałek, an expert of the Rafał Piotr Janiszewski Consulting Office, tells about why you should keep the expiry date of the drug. We cordially invite you to the next interview as part of the "Patient's Zone" project.
Anna Tłustochowicz: Let's say that I have a lot of drugs in my home medicine cabinet, which I reach for when I need it and do not pay attention to their expiry date. It is dangerous?
Artur Fałek:Of course. Medicines, like most products, may have, as colloquially said, a limited shelf life.
Someone might answer that we eat some food products after the expiry date and nothing bad happens.
Oh!In the case of drugs, the effect of such action can be much more dangerous for us!Because what will happen if we eat, say, expired yoghurt?
Can we get diarrhea?
For example, but let's also pay attention to the fact that even if we know that the yogurt is out of date, we have the possibility of organoleptically checking whether it is still fit for consumption. All we have to do is smell it - it smells bad, or we try a little bit - bitter or sour. Based on our own cognitive abilities and our own experience, we are able to determine whether we can still eat it. Of course, we use a simplification here, because when we are talking about yoghurts, there is, for example, the issue of bacterial multiplication.
Sure, but we did find that food was giving us signs of deterioration. Sometimes it's just mold!
However,in the case of drugs, this is not available . Medicines are rarely tasty, so we can't easily say whether they're still good for us or not. To check this, you would have to go to a laboratory and identify the active substance contained in the drug. Sometimes its activity is also important. In general, it is important and crucial in our conversation today thatthe healing properties of drugs can change over time.
And disappear?
Also. Yes of course. This is because, without going too much intochemical or biological reactions, the active ingredient in a drug may, over time, not be the same as it was. Over time, it could decompose, oxidize, etc.
That is whythe use-by date is specified to ensure that within a given period, the drug will have the declared composition and pharmacological properties.
Today we are talking about the safety of pharmacotherapy and, without a doubt, to guarantee this safety,we must be sure that the drug has the declared properties . Only then can it be used for its intended purpose.
In one of our previous conversations, the doctor pointed out that the safety of pharmacotherapy is also influenced by the way drugs are stored.
Temperature, exposure to light, humidity - these elements sometimes matter. However, even if we store the drug correctly,if we use it after the expiry date, there is no question of safety.The manufacturer absolutely does not guarantee that after the indicated date it will have its properties . If so: the drug should absolutely not be used then. If we are dealing with medical professionals - pharmacists, doctors or nurses - I can assure you that this issue is supervised by them. Please note thatthe expiry dates are systematically controlled in the hospital or pharmacy and expired drugs are withdrawn.There are special procedures in hospitals and based on my own experience, not only my work in the hospital, but I also have visits to hospital pharmacies - I can say that it has never happened that there was no procedure for controlling the expiry date of drugs and that this procedure was not followed.
Because the drug may not only be ineffective, but even dangerous to he alth?
Of course. So far, I have talked about the potential loss of the medicinal properties of the drug, but we know thateven within the expiry date, side effectsmay appear. And we are often not able to predict the side effects that a substance can cause when it changes its properties after the indicated time has elapsed.
The risk of using medications beyond the expiry date is much greater than that of eating expired foods.
Are we at risk of poisoning?
A toxic effect may appear. Yes.
So what to do if, after taking the drug, you find out that it is overdue?
The leaflet in which thewe check what the symptoms of poisoning with this drug may be.If they occur, take the actions described in the leaflet.Whether it will be inducing vomiting or going to the hospital, it depends on what drug we are dealing with.
And what should be done with expired medications?
Hospitals and pharmacies approach the matter professionally: they collect them, sort them and hand them over to specialized companies for disposal. In previous discussions, we talked about the summary of product characteristics. In this document, approved in the process of registration and approval of the drug on the market,describes whether it requires special disposal conditions.
In the process of admitting a drug to the market, the subjects area series of documents describing its production process , but also issues related to waste generated from an expired product and the conditions for its disposal. If a drug requires special handling, medical professionals will know it.
But we patients don't. Therefore, it happens that drugs are thrown in the trash.
We shouldn't be doing this! As I said:some drugs require a special disposal method , and besides, such careless disposal of them may intensify the phenomenon of environmental pollution!
There are people who flush medications down the toilet.
Some of the drugs end up there anyway. After all, they are metabolized by the urinary or digestive system. This is how the active substances get into the groundwater. And because wastewater treatment plants do not remove 100% of pharmaceuticals -there are tons of chemicals in the water, ranging from antibiotics to hormones.As more and more, fortunately, talk about environmental protection, I have hope that no one needs to be convinced today that throwing drugs into the trash or toilet is irresponsible.
Expired medications should be taken to the pharmacy.Every pharmacy in Poland has a container for expired medicinal products.
Dispose of medicine packaging there as well?
Depends which. We divide packaging into external and those that have direct contact with the drug …
Blister?
Blister, bottle, vial, syringe etc. Be rational: it is not necessary for us to take the cardboard box containing the medicine bottle to the pharmacy.According to the rules of waste segregation, the cardboard can be safely thrown into a paper container.Another thing is the packaging that contains the medicine directlycontact.
Now we are talking about packaging for all drugs? Not only those that are overdue?
Yes. All external packaging and empty immediate packaging can be disposed of with ordinary garbage. Immediate packaging containing drugs should be taken to the pharmacy. However,expired drugs, let's repeat it again, under no circumstances should be used!
Expert
Dr. Artur Fałek, doctor
He is an expert of the Rafał Piotr Janiszewski Consulting Office in the field of the organization and operation of the he alth care system, the operation of state administration, legislation in the field of he alth care, and an expert in the field of reimbursement and drug management. He worked in the Ministry of He alth as the Director of the Department of Drug Policy and Pharmacy (2007-2015), previously as the Deputy Director (2007), in the National He alth Fund Headquarters as the Director of the Drug Management Department.
From 2005 he was a member and from November 2007 the Chairman of the Drug Management Team. He is the author, co-author of many organizational solutions and legislation in the field of pharmacy and drugs, he was a Deputy Member of the Management Board at the European Medicines Agency; Senior Project Officer in the "Transparency of the National He alth System Drug Reimbursement Decisions" project (2007-2008); was a representative of Poland in the work of working groups at the European level.
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