Do you think i could take it back?

Last year (in may) i had a chest infection and i got some nebules from the chemist, i got the prescription filled (it wasnt cheap either! $42!!) and used a few of them, and didnt need the rest, so i stored them in the cupboard. Anyway, hubby needed some today, and when he checked the expiry, he said that they expired last year! They expired on 10/2011. So i only had 5 months to use 2 packs, (in total around 40-50 nebules) i was under the very strong impression that there had to be at least 1-2 years left on medications before they expired in order to sell them??

Do you think i could take them back? i still have the prescription notes on the packets, which says when i bought it, and the expiry date is on the package still.. i just think its wrong that if i need more, i would now have to fork out another $40 odd, when i should still have at least another year left to use them?

other medications i bought at the same time dont expire until 2014 sometime as well if thats anything?

were you meant to use all of them,?

No, just as i needed them, and you cant get smaller packets, as they're meant for the nebuliser

I would think probably not. Different medicines have different life expectancies. Just like food. Some have a use by date of just a few days, others years. Also, I don't think medications are returnable. I could be wrong about that though. Sucks that it costs so much though and it's just wasted.

Different medicines have different shelf lives. It all comes down to how stable they are - eg a tablet in foil will have a longer shelf life than a tablet in a bottle which will have a longer life than a capsule.

Some medications will only have a few days on them (liquid antibiotics are an example).

It is a while since I have used that part if the legislation but I am pretty sure that prescription medicines only have to have a useby longer than the use period - so a 40 pack of nebuliser nebules that you use say twice a day would only need to have 3 weeks remaining on it. Iykwim.

Nebules don't last very long. Fwiw if they are ventolin nebules I use mine out of date (within reason, like not 5 years out) and they work fine.

sent from my watzamajig so may not make sense....

Thanks ladies,

I know meds all have different shelf lives, but I've had both of these before, and the one that's expired, atrovent (ipatroprium bromide), has definitely had longer than 5 months on the packet on other ones I've had or family has had. Just the ventolin in itself doesn't expire until sometime in 2014, and I'm pretty sure it's mid-late 2014 too..


Sent from the land of "iSomethings" so forgive me for any spelking misstaks ;)

You can only try I guess.

I was under the impression the pharmaceutical benefits scheme only lists certain quantities of meds to be covered, so chemists only sell that quantity. Ie I needed a steroid cream but I had to buy two huge tubes because that's the only way they came as a subsidized product. I prob could have sourced a smaller tube but it would have cost a lot more. Basically I'm saying the meds were in date when you bought them, they prob only come in that size and I would think its unlikely a chemist would accept a return.

Hope this helps

That's really weird hun, I bought nebules for DH a few months ago and they don't expire until June 2014.

Regards,
Dianne