Dealing with Expired medicines

 

Since I worked with a Pharma Company, my schoolmate wanted to know what happens to drugs after they expire. 

I was faced with the task of physical disposal of the expired medicines since I was in-charge of the zonal office of Novartis in Chennai. Pharma companies had an understanding with the traders to take back all expired medicines and give value credit in return to them. Wherever feasible, returning to the manufacturer is the first choice because the manufacturer is likely to have good disposal method at its disposal. Immediately you will wonder that if it is the first choice, won't the manufacturer recycle the medicines by freshly repacking them and putting on a new expiry dates? What foolproof measures are taken to prevent this collosal fraud? Fortunately there are some factors which work against pharma companies in doing what you feared, recycling expired medicines as new packs. Only less popular or in fact least popular brands become expired. So factory level recycling into new packs will not be possible or economical as quantities will not favour it (since the quantity will be too small)

Generally, the expired drugs collected from retail chemists are periodically destroyed. This destruction is carried out at select centers in the country, usually at places where senior company executives are located. During 1996-2001 (my period of being Zonal Head in Chennai) proceedures were not in place for correct disposal methods. There was racketeering to make money by giving the packs back to a new set of retail chemists and making them claim value credit a second time from pharma companies. It was therefore imperative for supervising the destruction personally by a responsible officer of the Company. Often the municipal health workers would raise all kinds of objections for destruction by burning, digging and burying in the soil, throwing (particularly liquids) them into sewage drain etc. citing pollution as reason. It was quite a task back in those days. 

Actually, what does an expiry date mean?

The expiry date is the final day that the manufacturer guarantees the full potency and safety of a medication. Drug expiration dates exist on most medication labels. Hence, the expiry date doesn't really indicate a point at which the medication is no longer effective or has become unsafe to use. 

The testing conducted by the US FDA covered more than 100 drugs. The result showed that about 90% were safe and effective as long as 15 years past their original expiry date. Medical authorities state that expired medicine is safe to take, even those that expired years ago. It's true, effectiveness of a drug may decrease over time, but much of the original potency still remains even a decade after the expiration date. With a handful of exceptions like nitroglycerin, Insulin and Liquid antibiotic most drugs are probably as durable as the agency tested. Placing a medication in a cool place, such as a refrigerator, will help a drug remain potent for many years.

Medicines remain most stable in dry, cool spaces away from light. Before 1970s it wasn't mandatory to mention expiry date on drugs. However, United States' Center for Drug Evaluation and Research officially recommends that drugs past their expiry date be disposed. Consumers are encouraged to purchase fresh medication to replace their expired products resulting in additional profits for pharmaceutical firms.