Watch for expired meds.

[tbokay]

Last night the doctor ordered "Zofran" for my nausea. It is a strong medicine that is given to cancer patients to help them manage their nausea and vomiting. It dissolves on the tongue - so you dont have to swallow it or stuff it your butt.

My mom picked up my prescriptions last night and tonight I looked at the packages - 4 of them expire in April 2006 and 4 of them EXPIRED Oct 2005!

I contacted the pharmacist and she replaced the 4 that were expired.

I also informed her that the prescription was written for quatity of 6 and I was given 8 pills. She still replaced the 4 so I have a total of 8.

The packaged pills were placed in a ziplock bag (due to their packaging they won't fit in a bottle) - my label was placed over a previous label that was dated 8/2005. They did cross out the other person's name and address. Maybe the other person cancelled their prescription or never picked it up - but I would think either way they would have reshelved the meds and discarded the ziplock baggie.

Anyway - please check your medication for expiration dates. Be sure notify pharmacy right away if they have issued you expired meds. Check your over-the-counter meds too. Promptly and properly discard all expired meds. (I flush mine down the toilet so no one will find them in the trash)

I personally can't wait for an IC cure so I can flush ALL my meds down the drain! :biglaugh:

[Dixiefireball]

that is a great idea. I also have some of that meds for nausa here at home, but here comes the problem some meds like pills are place in a new bottle and with a new bottle i have no idea when they expire. So that is really a scary thought not being able to know for sure.
but for all the other meds that have dates on them that come in the org. packages I will keep an eye on and i thank you very much for posting this notice i think you will have a lot of us looking now for sure.
its a very important things to do when and if you can
Thanks again
and God bless
Rhonda

[traceann]

Great tip Tara!! Too bad we have to pick up those tid-bits due to a bad experience, ugh!!

I was laughing at you talking about liking to flush all your meds downt the drain...how appropriate to flush IC meds down the toilet!! LOL!! ;)

Hugs!

[tigger_gal]

thanks tara for letting us know...... I am glad you caught that..

[Sarojini]

I have been given expired meds before too -- way back when, I was given an expired sample pack of Detrol at the doctor's office (but even the fresh stuff didn't work for me so it didn't really matter), and once I was given an expired pack of birth control pills! Luckily I noticed THAT one!!!!

You have to be really careful with that because some meds don't just lose their potency, they can actually go bad and make you sick. Always, always check the date if possible, and always take the time to return expired ones to the pharmacy.

Thanks for reminding us all of this very important issue!!!!! :) :grouphug: