So what does the expiration date mean? Is a medicine still safe to take after its expiration date? Will it cause harm or just not work after its expiration date? Neither fully explains what the expiration date means. Actually, it's the date up until which the drug manufacturer can guarantee that the medicine is fully potent and safe to take based on product testing. Expiration dates are typically conservative to make sure you get what you paid for—a fully potent and safe medicine. The effectiveness of a medicine may decrease over time, but studies have shown that much of the original potency still remains years after the expiration date. Excluding certain prescription medicines such as nitroglycerin, insulin, and liquid antibiotics, most medicines stored under reasonable conditions retain at least 70% to 80% of their original potency for at least 1 to 2 years after the expiration date, even after the container has been opened. So, if you have a headache one night, and you reach for your bottle of ibuprofen and find that it expired last year, chances are high that the medicine still has retained most of its potency.
However, it is still advisable to replace medicines that have expired years ago with a new supply. If you had to you could take expired medicines. I will not hurt you but, if you don't have to you shouldn’t.
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