[alex_loudermilk]

I ordered hCG for a friend, for a long and a short round. I just noticed the expiration dates on them, of June 2012. So I did a little research, and I am now not particularly worried at all about that.

Expiration dates are the dates that pharma companies are required to put on packaging to show how long they have tested potency for. It is NOT the date that the medicine starts to lose potency. If they had to test potency for years and years, then the costs of medicines would be even higher than they already are. And it is to the pharma company's profit to have people throw their meds out after a certain date, as well as drugstores (I just read an article from CVS saying exactly the same thing about expired dates being safe for the vast majority of drugs, but they still advise you to toss the meds.)

The military had a huge stockpile of meds in warehouses, and many of them were out-of-date. So they got together with the FDA to run efficacy testing, and they found that "90% of more than 100 drugs, both prescription and over-the-counter, were perfectly good to use even 15 years after the expiration date." http://www.health.harvard.edu/fhg/up...ate1103a.shtml The army spends about $300,000 a year on testing these meds, and they save about $33,000,000 by keeping drugs that are still perfectly potent and safe.

Insulin, nitroglycerin, liquid antibiotics and possibly tetracycline lose potency. But most other drugs do not. Keep it in a cool dark place like your frig, and not your bathroom cabinet. Dosages may need to be adjusted, but that seems to be an ongoing issue with us anyway!

[JessePex]

Bumping for golcfrazyone.

Also adding another link from Johns Hopkins about longevity of drugs past expiry date. http://www.johnshopkinshealthalerts....ert_677-1.html

[RalfDweflywex]

Thanks for the information. I checked into this awhile ago and came across the same information you did. I totally agree.