Urgent :New about keeping expired medication at home?

Question

HI
Amazing how come a lot of people are just answering questions just to answer or just to see who is the most STUPID.I asked a question earlier about keeping expired meds at home.and (almost)all I got it's hate or stupidity.
I speak english only since 3 years and I passed the TOEFL exam required by all good universities.at list i can speak french , english and spanish.What about you?
That's not a stupid question because laws are different between states.please see the "JCAHO Changes Related to High-Risk Medications"...AND YOU WILL UNDERSTAND THE RESPONSABILITY OF A HOMECARE NURSE CONCERNING THE PATIENT'S FAMILY EDUCATION.
If you Work for a homecare agency,YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE A SURVEY AT ANY TIME.EVEN IN A PATIENT HOME (if the family is ok with that of course)
I can confirm you that I'm a nurse and I passed my NCLEX with a score of 81%.you might find it in all the public records.My question is to know if i could be in trouble,not the family.Stop that stupid hate

Answer 1

Okay, I can understand why you got mad if people just threw hate and stupidity at you. The way to handle the hate is to report them whenever they insult people. It costs them -10 points and eventually they might get the idea. Although yesterday I saw a question, "Why does Yahoo keep pulling half my questions?' So yes the stupid people are still around. I didn’t' even bother answering that question; because that person’s problem was not if that they didn’t understand, it was one of they refused to understand what was as plain as the nose on his face.

If you are a nurse who provides home care then I can understand your concern on this issue of expired medication. If you can get a pop survey (you should used the word "inspection" it means that an official can come by and check on your performance at your job) at anytime then you have to be on the ball. I am a native English speaker, and I did poorly in my only other language Spanish. I use a word processing program (Microsoft Word) to check all my answers. It looks for repeated words and grammar errors as well as spelling errors. I always advise people who have poor spelling to use one. I have seen a lot worse spelling in other questions and answers so I am not usually a spelling Nazi.

There are some medications that need to be properly disposed of when they expire. Some of these medications can decay into harmful, even poisonous compounds. However, that isn't true with the majority of pills. In fact the US Army recently sued a big Pharmaceutical company because they found that their medications were still good a long time after their expiration date. It's a good scam and makes hospitals and the Military have to replace their expired stock quicker.

In your case we don't know which medications can last longer and which cannot. All we can do is to rely on the Pharmaceutical companies to tell us the truth. There was a recent lawsuit against Epson, and their Ink Jet Printer Cartridges. They set the cartridges to show the out of ink signal, before they were actually out of ink. Again we have to trust the companies, and when they abuse that trust we can only hope that someone catches them at it.

I am disabled and require a minor pharmacy to treat my problems. Once upon a time I was giving myself Gamma Globulin shots twice a week. It didn't help the chronic pain; it just gave me the extra energy to power through it. I don't worry about expired medication, because I always got a limited supply that would be used long before they expired. I did have to keep the Gamma Globulin cold though so when I went to the doctor's office to get it I would bring along frozen ice packs for the trip home.

I learned, and use, the slogan "First In, First Out" whenever I handle goods and medications that can expire. Just to avoid eating or taking medication that may have expired. I don’t see why you have such concerns with expired medication you shouldn’t have large enough stocks on hand for them to expire, unless you carry meds with you from job to job. I know that some over the counter medications can expire. I believe that aspirin can decay into a vinegar smelling substance over time, but I don’t see what you question is supposed to be about. I do understand your rant, but I am a little vague on your question.

If you are administering expired medication then you should receive grief during a survey, you know that already though. It should also be your responsibility to go over a patient’s medications to check for the expiration dates, if you are responsible for the care of that patient. The family should know that as well, but they can’t be held liable for it and you can (liable as in sued or fired as a nurse). As for other medications in the household you can’t be held responsible for what other people should be responsible for.

I don’t know what the penalties from a survey are, but if a patient under your care is taking expired medications then you can be held responsible. You should inventory all of their medications and write a note in their storage place when the oldest medication expires. If a survey is made then you can use that note to show that your are on top of the situation. You should also tell the family what that note means so they can watch out for expired medication as well. If the doctor hasn’t educated the family on the patient, their problems and their medication then I guess you should do it. If you are the one around during a survey then you are the one that will be held liable.

Answer 2

I think your english is good, but I don't know anything about your previous question. I really would like to help you, do you want to know about expiration dates, on medication, that you have not used yet? If it is past the date, on the bottle, you should flush it. What is it about getting into trouble? I don't understand..sorry..

Answer 3

i didn't read your last question , but i am married to a man who is a pharmacy technition . we routinely (about every 3 months ) look at the expiration dates of over the counter medicines and prescription medicines and throw away what is out of date. medicine is not safe to take after the expiration date .
it looks like alot of peolpe were rude to you and thats not fair .