首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Do You Take Expired Medications? Lots of people do. Here’s what you need to know. Last week, Debi Loarie was straighten
Do You Take Expired Medications? Lots of people do. Here’s what you need to know. Last week, Debi Loarie was straighten
admin
2013-07-02
37
问题
Do You Take Expired Medications?
Lots of people do. Here’s what you need to know.
Last week, Debi Loarie was straightening her medicine cabinet when she noticed a 2003 expiration date on some Sudafed. She decided to check everything in her Highland Park, I11., home. "I would say 70 percent of the medicine I had in my cabinet was expired, " she says, "Nobody looks. I had stuff from 2001, 19%. " She tossed it all. "Why do you want to take a chance, " she says. "When you’re really sick, and you want to feel better, you need that to work. "
Loarie is not alone in holding onto expired medications. This month a survey of more than 1,000 adults by the pharmacy chain Medicine Shoppe found that 65 percent of Americans said they took expired medication. Unlike Loarie, more than half of them said they took them knowingly.
So, does the expiration date matter? Experts say it depends on the individual drug and on storage conditions. Over time, medications do lose some of their strength. "Usually, the worst thing that could happen is it won’t be as potent as you expect it to be, " says Dr. Edward Langston, a pharmacist and family physician in Lafayette, Ind., and chair-elect of the American Medical Association Board of Trustees.
But it can be a more serious problem. Some drugs — such as the epinephrine(肾上腺素)used to treat anaphylactic shock(过敏性休克)by people allergic to bee stings and certain foods — lose effectiveness faster than others. "When you’re having a potentially fatal reaction, that’s not the time you want to find out the drug isn’t as potent as it should be, " says pharmacist Michael Negrete, vice president of professional affairs for the California Pharmacists Association. Store Epi-Pens at a consistent temperature, and promptly replace expired ones.
Storage is important for all drugs. Medications break down more quickly in unstable environments. Incredibly, the bathroom, where, according to the survey, 49 percent of Americans store their medications, is a poor choice because of fluctuating temperatures and humidity.(The kitchen, where 29 percent keep their drugs, is a problem for the same reasons.)"Drugs degrade more rapidly in such conditions, " says Negrete. It’s also important to remember that medicine often comes in colored vials to keep out light, which can degrade some drugs. A bedroom, where the temperature is consistent and where medications can be kept out of humidity and sunlight is a better option.
In general, expiration dates are shorter on injected medications and longer on oral ones. "Anything that comes in a solution form has the potential to degrade very rapidly, " says Todd Cecil, vice president of standards development for the United States Pharmacopeia(USP), the standard-setting authority for prescription and over-the-counter drugs and dietary supplements. "When items are in solution, there’s a lot more ability for changes in a molecule to happen vs. in a solid form. " Some products, like aspirin, may last for years past their expiration dates. As aspirin ages, it may become more acidic, smell like vinegar and upset the stomach more, says Langston. "If it has a peculiar odor about it, there must be some decomposition. "
Many drugs are fine long after their expiration date. An FDA study of 122 drug products — including Cipro and amoxicillin(both antibiotics)— for the U. S. Department of Defense, published in July 2006, found that 88 percent were OK up to five years after their original expiration date. Despite the FDA’s findings, most experts say it’s not worth it for the rest of us to take a chance on expired medications. For one thing, the military stores its medications in their original, unopened containers, under rigorously controlled conditions, not in humid bathroom cabinets. "My recommendation is, if it’s expired, it’s expired. You’re not going to get the effects you intended, " says pharmacist Bill Bailey, director of specialized care centers for Medicine Shoppe. "The medicine may not work as you intended or have the effects you intended. " Not surprisingly, drugs are more likely to last longer when they’re sealed. "Once you open a bottle up, you begin to have air in there, humidity, in some cases different temperatures and sunlight, " says Bailey.
The FDA requires manufacturers to submit expiration dates — based on "real-time stability data" — when they apply for new drug approval. These dates are usually about two years after manufacture, says Langston, but drug makers can submit data and petition for a longer date later, using so-called accelerated stability studies and actual realtime stability data. The longest shelf life is five years. Stability testing is usually conducted at 77 degrees, but manufacturers may do accelerated testing at up to 104 degrees. "They run mat through their computer models and make a reasonable estimate, " says Langston. These tests aren’t intended to be accurate to the day. "It’s a lot of science, and a little bit of art, " says Langston.
To get rid of expired drugs, check with your local pharmacy, city and county to see if they dispose of medications. If not, remove labels with personal information and then put medicine in the trash — in a childproof container. Be careful, particularly with dangerous drugs. "There are people who rummage through old garbage," says Langston. "There are reasons medications are prescription drugs. "
What does the government recommend? "There’s no clear guidance at the federal level," says Negrete. In fact, government agencies, along with manufacturers and groups like the American Pharmacists Association(APhA), are looking into the disposal issue now. "It is so difficult," says Rogene Waite, a spokeswoman for the U. S. Drug Enforcement Administration. "Anything you can come up with is going to have an opposite side. There’s not going to be any easy answer... The best answer we have right now is: people are working on it, and stay tuned. " The East Bay Municipal Utility District in Oakland, Calif. , is working with the Drug Enforcement Administration to set up a pilot project to allow medicine disposal at pharmacies and other locations. The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency has no regulations about disposal. " There’s just the agency encouraging consumers to be environmentally smart," says EPA spokeswoman Enesta Jones. Currently, the EPA is evaluating proposals for the disposal of unwanted and unused medications.
The bottom line: clean out the medicine cabinet. Besides getting rid of drugs that may not be at their full strength, you could get some unexpected benefits. Once she got rid of two dozen old bottles, Loarie realized she had more cabinet space. And she felt so good about her efforts that she decided to tackle the expired food in her kitchen, too.
What’s the finding of the survey by the pharmacy chain Medicine Shoppe?
选项
A、Most of the respondents don’t know the expired medication can cause serious problems.
B、The majority of the respondents think expired medications can meet emergencies.
C、More than 50% of the respondents take expired medications knowingly.
D、Most of the respondents take medications without noticing the expiration date.
答案
C
解析
该段指出连锁药店Medicine Shoppe的一项调查显示:参与调查的一千多人中有65%的人表示他们曾经吃过过期药,其中一半以上的人表示吃药时就已经知道药是过期的,也就是50%以上的人,[C]项正确。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/mwn7777K
0
大学英语六级
相关试题推荐
Theremaybeotherlifeformsintheuniversebecauseover50extrasolarplanetswerediscoveredin2001.Astrobiology,abranc
______(假设能源的需求继续增长的话)attheUnitedStates,itwillnotbelongbeforetraditionalsourcesbecomeinadequate.
TheUnitedStatesDepartmentofEducationsaystherearemorethan2,400Americancollegesanduniversities.About100ofthese
Womenarehalfthepopulationbutonly15%ofboardmembersatbigAmericanfirms,and10%inEurope.Companiesthatfishinonl
A、Whetherthesecuritycheckswerereallynecessary.B、Howtocopewiththehugecrowdsofvisitorstothemunicipalbuilding.C
A、Eliminatepovertyandinjustice.B、Migratetootherplanets.C、Controltheenvironment.D、Findinexhaustibleresources.C细节题。本
A、Englishlearningatschoolusuallytakesalongtime.B、MoreandmorepeoplewanttolearnEnglishnowadays.C、Itisnotneces
MostChineseAmericansworkedinrestaurantsandlaundriesbecauseof______.FewChineselearnedEnglishatthattimebecause__
A、Onewithlargeharddisc.B、Onewithawidescreen.C、Onewithlargememory.D、Onewithpinkcolor.C对话中,女士说自己需要一台台式电脑,并提出要买一个
Withtoday’sadvancementsincommunicationscombinedwithcomputersandhandholddevices,wenowhavemultiplewaystoconnecta
随机试题
下图最可能是()指标的走势图。
下列设施中,不在蒸汽管路冲洗与吹洗范围的是()。
组织文化有三个层次结构,属于显现层范畴的是()。
A.医德教育B.医德修养C.医德评价D.医德实践E.医德情操
下列关于岸边工程的勘察基本要求,不正确的是()。
根据我国《合同法》的规定,订立合同可以采取()。
甲公司为一家大型国有企业集团公司。近年来,为做大做强主业,实现跨越式发展,甲公司积极实施了一系列并购投资。2020年度,甲公司发生的相关业务如下:(1)2020年1月1日,甲公司与A公司的控股股东签订股权收购协议,甲公司以20亿元的价格收购A公司股份
甲于2007年3月20日将小件包裹寄存乙处保管。3月22日,该包裹被盗。3月27日,甲取包裹时得知包裹被盗。根据《民法通则》的规定,甲要求乙赔偿损失的诉讼时效期间届满日是()。
在古代,每逢战乱,手艺人都会成为战争双方争夺的对象,这是因为手艺人掌握着传统社会中最重要的技术,他们代表着当时最先进的社会生产力。如今,尽管现代科学技术取代了手工技能,成为当今时代最强大的生产力,但传统工艺完全可以借助现代科技而提升,继续服务于大众。这段文
设f(x)在(-∞,+∞)上可导,(1)若f(x)为奇函数,证明fˊ(x)为偶函数;(2)若f(x)为偶函数,证明fˊ(x)为奇函数;(3)若f(x)为周期函数,证明fˊ(x)为周期函数.
最新回复
(
0
)