Shelf Life of Prescription Medications

Prescription medications can be the most difficult part of survival stockpiling. They can be hard to get in quantity, but without certain medications patients would die or become ill in short order. It is best to do everything possible to avoid the need to take any kind of prescription meds. Following a proper diet and exercising regularly will go a lone way toward meeting this end. Unfortunately, there are people who because of health problems, have no choice but to continue relying on meds from the drugstore.

The U.S. Air Force performed a study to determine the shelf life of its inventory of medications. It seems the Air Force was concerned about having to dump and restock millions of dollars worth of pharmaceuticals after the stated expiration date. The study proved that even though they were given a date of shelf life, many of them maintain their stability, safety and potency up to as much as an additional 107 months past their expiration dates.

The Viet Cong used antibiotics and other medications in the 1960s and 1970s that were taken from the French in the 1940’s and 1950’s “source Survivalblog.com” . While this could be leaning toward the extreme, it is a testament to what has worked in the past, for others in need.

Joel Davis, a former FDA expiration-date compliance chief, says that with a handful of exceptions — notably nitroglycerin, insulin and some liquid antibiotics — most drugs are probably as durable as those the agency has tested for the military. “Most drugs degrade very slowly,” he says. “In all likelihood, you can take a product you have at home and keep it for many years, especially if it’s in the refrigerator.”

It seems the most difficult part of storing prescription meds in your survival supplies, maybe obtaining such meds in the first place. It seems every time I visit the Doctor for whatever reason all I need to say is that I have a sinus infection, and wham, he writes me a prescription for antibiotics to clear up the “infection”. The antibiotics quickly find their way into my stockpile of survival meds.

If there is medication that has a substantial impact on your health, such as insulin, blood sugar testing, and syringes for diabetics or anti seizure medications for epileptics, blood pressure meds etc., talk with your doctor and pharmacist about your concerns for long term supplies and long term storage of such medications for extended emergencies. Your doctor will  likely jack around and offer no real help, (after all if you have supplies of needed meds to last a year or more you will have no need of his services during this time) but it don’t hurt to ask…
Keep Surviving.

Survival 101

Related posts:

1. Stocking up on Prescription Medications
2. Letter Re: “The Survival Doctor”
3. Food Shelf-Life Recommendations
4. Antibacterial Irony?
5. Shelf Reliance, LLC