Out of date Penicillin - death?

[Jonboy_t]

Got some that 'expired' in July 2013. I'm guessing that the makers would need to be conservative with their dates and they've got a good while left in them before I would be killed to death?

Should I write a will before taking one?

(I have an abscess in my mouth, had it ages, comes and goes. Dentist always gives me Penicllin for it which gets rid for a good 18 months before it flares up again. Popped it last time instead of using pills so have a whole box left. Tasted delicious )

[grumbledoak]

I doubt they'll kill you. Might not be as potent, I suppose. I read of tests done on left over WWII medicines no so long ago - I think nobody really knows how long they last.

[Jonboy_t]

I'M ALIVE!!

Found another pack that was stronger (500mg instead of 250mg) but ran 'out of date' in late 2012. Man maths dictated that, as they were stronger to start with but lost their effectiveness over time, they would probably be closer to an actual 250mg pill now...... I'm not dead anyway, so we can all chalk one up for man maths in my opinion!

[Engineer1]

In all seriousness it's people chancing stuff like this that leads to multi resistant bugs, either because you didn't finish the course of meds when you were given them previosly or by chancing them now and not necessarily killing the bugs this time.