Hydrocodone Expiration (Top voted first)

I found Hydrocodone 7.5 mg and it's from 1997 is it dangerous to take because of the Tylonel or Ibuprofen in it??

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Hi Jb,

While there may be a lot of conflicting information around the topic of expired medication, a Harvard Medical School family health article states that, except in rare cases (i.e. tetracycline), there is little chance of danger due to taking medications even up to 15 years beyond their expiration date. This conclusion was based upon a study conducted at the request of the US military due to stockpiles of expensive drugs they could otherwise need to replace every few years. The conclusion was that 90% of those drugs remained effective 10 - 15 years after the expiration date.

I don't know whether or not the drug you have happens to be one of these drugs from the study... (I have not seen the list of drugs used in this study). But I'd imagine that most types of pain medications would certainly be drugs of interest upon making such claims.

Source: health.harvard.edu/fhg/updates/update1103a.shtml

Unless you're able to determine if your medication falls under this category, I wouldn't suggest taking any chances just to play it safe - Especially since 1997 was 16 years ago. I suppose the only real way to know if it maintained it's potency after this time frame, would be to have it lab tested; which could potentially cost just as much or more than refilling your prescription.

I hope this info helps!

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