“A dozen of the 14 compounds were still as potent as they were when they were manufactured, some at almost 100 percent of their labeled concentrations.
“Lo and behold,” Cantrell says, ‘The active ingredients are pretty darn stable.'” It turns out the expiration dates that lead you (and hospitals) to toss medications into the trash are a bit premature. Like by forty years or so. From ProPublica: The Myth of Drug Expiration Dates. (Funny how people will throw out over the counter drugs, but illegal ones seem to have a shelf life of forever.)