The recent heat wave may have taken a toll on your medication. That’s what reporter Walecia Konrad learned after her son’s allergy medication stopped working after being exposed to high temperatures on a family vacation at the lake.
No drug should be exposed to temperatures higher than 86 degrees. Some days the bathroom at our vacation house and certainly the trunk of the car were well above that mark….
Pharmaceutical manufacturers recommend most of their products be stored at a controlled room temperature of 68 to 77 degrees, said Skye McKennon, clinical assistant professor at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy. In truth, that is the range in which manufacturers guarantee product integrity. Anywhere from 58 to 86 degrees is still fine, she said.
“During heat waves and cold spells, storage locations can go above or below those ranges, causing medicines to physically change, lose potency or even threaten your health,” Dr. McKennon said.
For patients with such chronic illnesses as diabetes or heart disease, a damaged dose of a crucial medicine, like insulin or nitroglycerin, can be life-threatening. But even common medicines can break down with potentially harmful effects, and you can’t always tell by looking at the pill or liquid that a problem has occurred, said Janet Engle, a pharmacist and past president of the American Pharmacists Association.
To learn more about how to properly store medications, read the full article, “Mistakes in Storage May Alter Medication,” and then please join the discussion below.
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