House calls for petitioning FDA to review drug expiration dates

Spurred by the growing demand for medications by people with limited incomes, the AOA House of Delegates on July 17 called for petitioning the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to change its criteria for specifying a drug’s shelf life. Too often, the resolution notes, potent medications are disposed of due to premature expiration dates.

“Physicians are seeking more flexibility to distribute meds to people who need them,” says Jon F. Wills, the executive director of the Ohio Osteopathic Association, which submitted the resolution.

Wills explains that a lot of the DOs affiliated with the Free Medical Clinic of Greater Cleveland saw expired medications continually thrown out even though they could still benefit patients, including the growing number of unemployed people seeking treatment in the past few years. He adds that studies have shown that drug labels often include expiration dates “much earlier than when meds actually expire.”

As an example, “levothyroxine sodium is still fine even if it’s two months out of date,” says Alice J. Zal, DO, who chaired the House Committee on Professional Affairs, which recommended the resolution’s approval. “If it originally was a 125-milligram prescription, for instance, six months after its expiration date it might be the equivalent of a 110-milligram prescription. Most of us in the profession know that expired drugs might just lose some of their potency.”