Is It Safe To Take An Expired Medrol Dosepak?

Answer

Although it is certainly possible that the tablets in your expired Medrol Dosepak (methylprednisolone) have not degraded or lost significant potency over time, as a general rule of thumb, it is not recommended to take expired medications, especially when they can be easily replaced.

You want to be as sure as you can that the medication you are taking will be safe and effective, and making sure it is not expired is an important step to take.

If you picked up your Medrol prescription back in 2012, we're going on 10 years you've had the medication. The box should have an expiration date on it, but seeing how this drug generally only has a 2 to 3-year expiration date from when it was manufactured, it is now certainly expired.

I will say it is quite uncommon that expired medications cause direct harm (although there were reports of this occurring with tetracycline). We are more worried about whether or not an expired drug will be as effective as it once was. This is an extremely important consideration as you want to make sure the medication you are taking will work as expected, especially when talking about a steroid like Medrol.

As an additional point, and just an importantly, a Medrol Dosepak is prescribed for acute conditions, such as temporary pain and inflammation. There are medical considerations that your prescriber takes into account when they prescribe it for you. There are a lot of reasons why a steroid may not be appropriate for someone, even if it was recommended 10 years ago.

Medrol is a prescription drug for a reason and should only be prescribed to you for a specific need after being evaluated. Taking something 10 years old, your medical condition and overall situation have certainly changed since then and you should only take the drug after a current evaluation and prescription from your doctor. It's the same reason I wouldn't recommend you take a 10-year-old antibiotic. You need to have an up-to-date evaluation.

In the next sections, I go over some additional information regarding the expiration dates of medication.

You Don't Know For Sure The Medication Will Be As Potent As It Once Was

One of the main problems with expired medication is that we just don't know how effective they are (or aren't) due to the lack of data available.

A drug manufacturer will perform stability tests on their products so can determine the appropriate expiration date, an end date at which they can assure the medication retains its labeled potency.

These stability tests will be performed for a finite time period, usually two to three years, and after this period of time, there isn't any data to indicate whether or not the drug is stable.

For most drugs, aside from the potentially obvious visual signs of a tablet/capsule, etc, breaking down, most drugs don't show signs of degradation. Some certainly do, like aspirin (which smells like vinegar when it starts to break down), but most solid dosage forms do not. A tablet could look perfectly fine, but the actual drug compound may have started to degrade.

The takeaway point here is that once your medication is past the listed expiration date, you just don't know if it will be safe to take, or as effective as it once was. Due to this, you should get a replacement that is not expired if you and your doctor decide a Medrol Dosepak is a right choice for you.

FDA Shelf-Life Extension Program

Having said all of the above, I think it is important to point out that studies have shown that many drugs do last well beyond their listed expiration date.

In fact, studies commissioned by the U.S. government led to the creation of the FDA Shelf-Life Extension Program, SLEP, after finding that many drugs still retain over 70-80% of their listed potency, even 10 years after a drug expired.

This program allows the U.S. to stockpile expired drugs, vaccines, and medical products that are critical to ensure public health in the case of an emergency to avoid the significant cost of replacing these stockpiles every few years.

I mention this program just to emphasize that most drugs, even when expired, can be effective. The most stable drugs are synthetic compounds in a solid dosage form (e.g., tablets, capsules, etc...,).

Final Words

Going back to your expired Medrol Dose Pack, it most likely is safe only in regard to it not causing harmful side effects.

It will also probably provide a similar level of effectiveness to non-expired products since it is unlikely to be significantly degraded as it has been stored in a blister pack at a controlled temperature. However, as discussed in the sections above, there is just no way to definitively know.

Since Medrol is relatively inexpensive and readily available, should your doctor prescribe it, it makes sense to get a replacement that is not expired. You also should have a current evaluation to ensure a Medrol Dosepak is an appropriate and safe choice for you.

I really appreciate you reaching out and please do so again if anything else comes up!