Expiration date of the drug

This is an automatically translated article.

Article written by Pharmacist Nguyen Le Trang _ Clinical Pharmacist of Pharmacy Department - Vinmec Times City International Hospital

The shelf life of a drug is the last day that the manufacturer guarantees the effectiveness and safety of the drug. Providing full information about the expiry date of the drug and declaring it on the drug label is a requirement of the Pharmacy Law for all manufacturers before the drug is put on the market.

1. What is the expiry date of the drug?

The shelf life of the drug is estimated based on tests for chemical, physical, and microbiological stability. Usually the shelf life of the drug is 2-5 years depending on the date of manufacture and corresponding to the recommended storage conditions.
>>> Why must the drug have an expiration date?

2. How to properly understand the expiry date of the medicine

2.1 Expiry date before opening the lid, opening the vial Normally, the expiry date of the medicine is usually indicated on the drug label with some signs/information as follows:
HSD (expiry date) Do not use after the Exp date (Expiration) Expiry date Use by (use to date) Use before Expiry date is usually written in month/year format, for example, the expiry date is December 2020 which means that the drug should not be used after December 31, 2020; if the expiry date is stated as a date, for example, December 30, 2020, it means that the drug should not be used after December 30, 2020.

2.2 Shelf life after opening, opening the vial Some drugs may need to be converted to use or change storage conditions after opening for example powder for oral suspension, vials containing many bare pills need Pay special attention to the expiry date after opening and the corresponding storage conditions. Example: Zitromax powder for oral suspension: 24 months from date of manufacture and 10 days after opening at room temperature.

3. Disposing of expired drugs?

Expired drugs have the risk of affecting the amount of effective medicine and the risk of toxicity because the ingredients in the drug can change and are not guaranteed by the manufacturer. Therefore, the drug should not be used beyond its expiry date.
Should carefully read the manufacturer's instructions on drug storage conditions (temperature, humidity, light) to ensure the drug has the longest stability and safety. However, it should also be noted that some drugs should not be continued to be used even after the expiry date when there are signs of change (discoloration, watery ...).

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