I-Team Investigates Prescription Drug Expiration Dates

A trip to the drug store can set you back big money. Then you're told to throw out your pricey pills a year later, because they're no good anymore. The WESH 2 I-Team looked into the dates both drug makers and local pharmacists assign to prescriptions, and found there's some guesswork involved. Retirement didn't mean quitting work for Gerald Murphy. He started taking trips to Guatemala, working at a clinic on the edge of a huge garbage dump. The retired Daytona Beach pharmacist hands out medicine -- labled expired -- because he feels it still works just fine and shouldn't end up in the garbage. "A simple three-letter word, sin. It's a sin to destroy something that could be used to save lives or make people healthier," Murphy said. Now he's waging the battle in Florida to keep medicines on your medicine cabinet shelves longer -- and out of the trash. "I wasn't trained in pharmacy to destroy things," Murphy said. "I was taught to use things for the benefit of my fellow man." His first beef is with the expiration dates manufacturers put on their drugs. "They're bogus. They're just picked out of the air," he said. Next, Murphy goes after Florida pharmacists. "We're still telling people, 'Throw them away,'" Murphy said. "That is not truthful, in my opinion." On your prescriptions you'll find a date earlier than the manufacturer's expiration date. It's the date the pharmacist says to toss the pills. Usually that "beyond use" date is exactly one year after the date you received the prescription. "If people take their medication properly, as a general rule, they're used up in 30, 50, 90 days," Jim Powers of the Florida Board of Pharmacy said. Powers does admit it's easier for the big chain pharmacies to set all "beyond-use" dates the same. "They found an easy way, and the easy way is in their computer to make it just one year beyond the date that it was filled or dispensed," he said. The American Medical Association said "there is little scientific basis for 'beyond-use' dates." The AMA is also calling for more study of drug manufacturers' expiration dates. A lot of ammunition comes from tests the Food and Drug Administration did for the military. They found most drugs studied lasted beyond their expiration dates, some by as many as ten years. Here's how the drug makers' lobby, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, fired back. It said the military stored the meds in optimal conditions -- dry, cool and dark -- not like the medicine cabinet most of us use. PhRMA also claimed more testing of expiration dates would mean higher costs for consumers. Murphy thinks we're already getting ripped off. He refuses to throw out $300 ulcer medication, even though the label said to toss it five years ago. "I'm saving it in case I develop an ulcer," Murphy said. It's important to note that even Murphy admits not all drugs will stay potent past their expiration dates. Liquid antibiotics, insulin and certain injectables expire more quickly then meds in other forms such as pills. Ask your doctor if you have concerns. Additional Resources:

• Here are questions to ask your pharmacist.
• Here's what Florida pharmacists must tell you regarding expiration dates.