Pharmacist warns against consuming expired medicines

Pharmacist warns against consuming expired medicines

By Nawara Fattahova

KUWAIT: Expired medicines cannot be sold in pharmacies due to strict rules and inspections by the ministry of health. But many people store unused medicines at home, which then expires. This rarely happens with antibiotics, as the prescribed dose is consumed completely in a few days. Unconsumed medicines are usually painkillers, eyedrops, cough syrups, etc.

Many people believe it won’t hurt to use expired medicine – at most it won’t bring relief. But this is not always the case, as medicines differ according to their purpose of use. According to pharmacist Dr Riham Ahmad, it’s never recommended to consume expired medicines. “Consuming some kinds of expired medicines can harm the patient, especially the liver. I advise people not to take the risk. In some medications, the expiry date does not include the day, and only the month and year are mentioned. In this case, it can be used till the end of that month,” she told Kuwait Times.

Storing medicines properly is more important than the expiry date. “The way of storing medicines is always detailed in the leaflet. In general, most medicines should be stored at room temperature of around 25 degrees Celsius. Wrongly storing medicines will make them