Manufacturing and Expiry Date

Most people look at the expiry date of the medicine before buying the medicine but never look at the manufacturing date.  Let us look at an example –

• Manufacturing Date Oct 201 

• Current Month Sept 2013

• Expiry Date Jan 2014

You may buy the medicine thinking that there is another 4 months for the medicine to expire.  However if you look at it differently, the medicine was manufactured 2 years back.  The medicine if it was not properly stored in medical shop would have decayed since it is already 3 years old and could have possible side effects

Similarly, it is necessary to verify the Expiry Date of the Medicines purchased, as any medicine purchased beyond the Expiry Date could prove harmful  

Two important points to be noted while buying medicines –

• Don’t hang on over your cell phone while buying medicines.

• Don’t be in a hurry to buy, be focused at the time of buying medicines; compare the tablets with the prescription. I know it is difficult to read doctor’s handwriting, but you can check about the pills with pharmacist

Replace the inventory of medicines regularly

It is common to store pain killer tablet, cough syrup, crack filler ointment, nycil powder at home. These items are very rarely used. So, when you want to use these items –

• Check the manufacturing date  and if it is too old, don’t use
• Ideally, replace the inventory at home once in six months. If this means an extra cost; it is worth spending.
• Don’t use the old prescription; say the prescription given by the doctor when you were sick during last year should never be used again. Let the doctor extra fees; no problem – waste some more money and time; it’s worth it.

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