# Harvard Says Expired Drugs Are Okay to Take By thischick | Published 2007-04-06 | Lifestyle Source: Trend Hunter, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/harvard-says-expired-drugs-are-okay-to-take References: [health.harvard.edu](http://www.health.harvard.edu/fhg/updates/update1103a.shtml) Do you throw out your expired medications? Then I've got some news for you. I can't tell you how many times I've thrown out medication - prescription or otherwise because it's past the expiration date. And we're not talking one day here, we're talking like a year. What can I say? I have a problem with letting go of stuff. Well, there's some good news, according to [Harvard](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/wellbels-womens-40), while medication could theoretically lose some of it's potency past the expiration date, there are no ill-effects from taking [medications even 15 years after they've expired](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/lifesaving-medication). So if you haven't cleared out what's expired, there's no need to. You no longer need to worry that if you pop that [three year old cold pill](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/all-day-allergy-relief) in a moment of absolute need, that you'll end up in the emergency room hallucinating and foaming at the mouth. ## Trend Insights (Trend Hunter) - Score: 3.1/10 - Popularity: 32% | Activity: 54% | Freshness: 8% - Audience gender: 50% men, 50% women - Primary generations: Millennial, Gen X - Top markets: North America ## Categories [Trend Hunter](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends) > [Lifestyle](https://www.trendhunter.com/lifestyle) > [Health](https://www.trendhunter.com/health) ## Key Themes ### What's Driving This Trend - **Expired Medications Absorption:** Exploring the absorption rate of expired medications to create a new standard for the efficacy of outdated medication. - **Medication Expiration Date Extension:** Extending medication expiration dates to reduce medication waste and save on production costs, while ensuring safety and efficacy. - **Consumer Education on Expired Medications:** Educating consumers on the actual safety and efficacy of expired medications could reduce the amount of medication waste and make healthcare more affordable for consumers. ### Who This Affects Most - **Pharmaceutical Industry:** Developing new methods to test and extend medication shelf-life would be a disruptive innovation opportunity within the pharmaceutical industry. - **Healthcare Industry:** Disruptive innovation opportunity within the healthcare industry where educating consumers on medication safety and efficacy could lead to more affordable healthcare access for everyone. - **Environmental Industry:** Developing solutions to safely dispose of expired medication to reduce environmental impact is a disruptive innovation opportunity within the environmental industry. ## Related on Trend Hunter - [Expiration Date Elimination Initiatives](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/morrisons.md) - [Medication Management Apps](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/goodrx-medicine-cabinet.md) - [Color-Changing Food Labels](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/freshtag.md) - [Modernized Waste-Free Medication Packaging](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/portable-medicine-dispenser.md) - [Food Waste Reduction Tools](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/expiremate.md) - [Safety-Focused Medication Collection Kiosks](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/medication-collection-kiosks.md) - [Dairy Product Labeling Updates](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/yogurt-useby-dates.md) - [Exclusive Shampoo Collections](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/unexpired-pantene.md) - [Smooth Medicine Delivery Solutions](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/oily-gel-for-medicine.md)