patrick.net

Dan8267 says

90% of more than 100 drugs

BEWARE the other 10% though! For example, FDA says, "Throw away any unused doxycycline when it is out of date or when it is no longer needed. Do not take any doxycycline after the expiration date printed on the bottle." Expired doxycyline can turn toxic and cause serious problems. Other expired tetracyclines, and expired azythromycin, might also do that. Also, expiration dates assume normal storage conditions: higher humidity and temperatures can cause much more rapid decay.

An interesting interwebs comment may summarize the general process by which these dates are usually set, but supposedly "equivalent" generic versions can vary. If we had an OTC retail environment with competition, and if there were sufficient demand (e.g. from the military), then we would probably see innovative competition on shelf life, just as we see with batteries and other products. Since we have mandatory dependence instead, including somebody with 10 years of post-secondary education counting out the precise number of pills you've been allowed to purchase by your paid presecriber (even a free slice of pizza has been shown to influence prescribing) and mandatory insurance, we don't see innovation in that area.

People pay a terrible price for entrenched revenue recipients' refusal to let people take control of their own health. Voters of both major parties vote consistently against their own interest in this area. Since the Rx requirement became mandatory before most voters were born, and the drug "war" goes back even further, most voters don't even trust themselves with their own lives. Voters of both major parties have been sold a bill of goods including the false promise that government can save people from themselves. In reality, the actual consequences are infinite spending, including higher prices, and less innovation resulting in fewer choices.

curious2 says

BEWARE the other 10% though! For example, FDA says, "Throw away any unused doxycycline when it is out of date or when it is no longer needed. Do not take any doxycycline after the expiration date printed on the bottle." Expired doxycyline turns toxic and can cause serious problems.

Good point. I stumbled on this article thinking about the aspirin on my desk that's 14 months expired. At least that's safe and effective. Of course, aspirin isn't a prescription drug. That may make a big difference.

It would be nice if the labels actually had a sales expired and a do not take after date with the later telling you when it's not safe if that applies at all.

curious2 says

even a free slice of pizza has been shown to influence prescribing

Well that explains Pizza Rat. He was just an Oxycontin junkie trying to bribe a doctor.

www.UPXUG8q4jKU

Dan8267 says

It would be nice if the labels actually had a sales expired and a do not take after date with the later telling you when it's not safe if that applies at all.

That would be a small step in the right direction, but competition would likely produce even better innovations. Batteries and pills share similar challenges in chemistry, yet we see competition and innovation and a wide range of consumer choice in the manufacture of batteries. BTW, don't swallow batteries, some can kill you. It's a world full of hazards, if a lobbyist reads this post you might not be able to buy batteries without an Rx, enabling a whole agency and cottage industry of battery prescribers to might raise the cost 10x.

Dan8267 says

Pizza Rat

Great video! Rats resemble more closely our early mammalian ancestors than we do. We humans are the mutants. Rats are the ones who followed the established patterns most closely. I hope our little cousin got his pizza home safely, but we mutants can have pizza anytime, with whatever we want on it.

curious2 says

don't swallow batteries, some can kill you.

I wasn't really planing on doing that.

curious2 says

Great video! Rats resemble more closely our early mammalian ancestors than we do. We humans are the mutants. Rats are the ones who followed the established patterns most closely. I hope our little cousin got his pizza home safely, but we mutants can have pizza anytime, with whatever we want on it.

I think Pizza Rat has so much appeal because of his tenacious effort, and we in the rat race can identify with that.

I always suspected this to be the case. Also note that

"Excluding nitroglycerin, insulin, and liquid antibiotics, most medications are as long-lasting as the ones tested by the military. Placing a medication in a cool place, such as a refrigerator, will help a drug remain potent for many years."

justme says

"Excluding nitroglycerin, insulin, and liquid antibiotics, most....

Yes, but there should really be more testing on this. IMO, a competitive envioronment driven by actual free market competition (not the revenue maximizing pretense we have now) would make shelf life into a selling point, with continuous innovation and testing, and evidence-based specifications. The Constitution authorizes Congress to regulate commerce, but per SCOTUS Congress can also now use its taxing power to compel commerce, including specifically whatever maximizes the revenue of their patronage networks, including corporate sponsors and lobbyists. Note CJ Roberts was a partner in a DC law firm that profits from precisely this dynamic, and his buddies can now profit even more from it, and they have rationalized in their own minds why they should wield all of their power the way they do. Obamneycare was designed to maximize corporate power including mandatory spending, and SCOTUS has "interpreted" it even further in the direction of that original design. Letting people keep something on the shelf longer, instead of buying new, doesn't serve that goal, and so R&D in that direction won't happen until the law changes.