What is the purpose of an expiration date on medications?

The expiration date on medications serves a critical purpose: it indicates the last date for which the medication is guaranteed to maintain its full potency and safety. This means that, up until this date, the manufacturer has tested and confirmed that the medication will perform as intended when taken at the specified dosage. After this date, the effectiveness of the drug may diminish, and there could be an increased risk of adverse effects or reduced efficacy.

Understanding this concept is essential for safe medication use, as it helps prevent the use of potentially ineffective or unsafe medications. Manufacturers establish these dates based on stability studies that evaluate how long the medication remains effective under specific storage conditions.

The other options serve different purposes or are not related to the function of an expiration date. For example, the manufacturing date marks when the product was created, while recommended storage temperature details how the medication should be stored to ensure its integrity, and the prescribing timeframe is unrelated to the medication's expiration.