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Naloxone, the generic name for the drug, is sometimes referred to as a "stroke" or "rescue shot" because of its ability to bring back someone after an overdose of opioids. It has been used for a long time in hospitals and by emergency medical technicians, but as the crisis of opioid dependence swept through the country, it was increasingly accessible to drug addicts and their entourage.
Narcan, a nasal spray with naloxone, has been shown to be chemically stable for 10 months after the stated expiry date. Evzio, an injection of naloxone, was chemically stable for at least one year after its expiry date. The products tested were not stored under ideal storage conditions, the researchers say.
Babcock said the results would be expected for naloxone stored in a controlled environment, but not for products stored by patients.
"I dispense naloxone all the time to patients, and a couple came after it expired, they used it and people were brought back to life."
Research like this could change the expiration dates of drugs, said McCurdy, a professor of medicinal chemistry at the College of Pharmacy at the University of Florida. Regulators need to do more research "so that we can get meaningful expiration dates for products that people can really trust," he said.
"To show that these drugs are actually stable beyond their expiry date indicates that we need to contact manufacturers and regulators and obtain proper expiry dates for these products."
However, it does not recommend people to take expired medications.
"We respect the expiry date, and we do not recommend people to take drugs beyond their expiry date because, quite frankly, we do not know whether it has broken down or not." , did he declare.
Search on drug expiration dates
Naloxone is not the only drug to have retained its activity after the expiry date placed on the market.
"I just do not think we're here for the expiry date of prescription drugs in the United States," Cantrell said. "This is only an additional science that confirms the fact that different types of drugs retain their effectiveness for years, even decades, after the expiration date."
His sample consisted of 40 expired EpiPens, including nine EpiPen Jr; the drugs are used to treat allergic emergencies. EpiPen Jr contains the correct dose of epinephrine for a patient weighing between 33 and 66 pounds.
The study found that 61% of EpiPens and 56% of EpiPen Junior contained at least 90% of their stated amount of epinephrine.
"They had expired for up to four years and we analyzed them, and we found that they all contained a residual dose that could be found therapeutic," he said.
"Acetaminophen, caffeine, codeine, are the ones that people will probably recognize," said Cantrell.
Butalbital, methaqualone, phenacetin, meprobamate, pentobarbital, secobarbital, hydrocodone, homatropine and chlorpheniramine were also active after the expiry date.
Although expired medications may still work in some cases, patients are always advised not to take them. The drug may not be as powerful as it has to be to help.
"The best thing to do is to not take any outdated medication and consult a pharmacist to determine what to do with this medicine to properly eliminate it," said McCurdy, of the drug. American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists.
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