We've documented how hospitals often discard pricey new supplies, how nursing homes trash valuable medications after patients die or move out, and how drug companies create expensive combinations of cheap drugs. However, several pharmacologists and toxicologists opine that – The dates on drug labels are simply the point up to which the FDA and pharmaceutical companies guarantee their effectiveness, typically at two or three years.
But the dates don't necessarily mean they're ineffective immediately after they "expire" — just that there's no incentive for drugmakers to study whether they could still be usable.
