Time to clear out medicine cabinet

A home medicine cabinet should be cleaned out once a year and all medicines discarded that are either unusable or no longer needed, notes Erika Fink, president of Germany's Federal Chamber of Pharmacists.

"If a medicine's expiry date has passed, it must not be used even if it looks unobjectionable," she warns.

Even when stored properly, with time medicines undergo changes that are seldom outwardly visible. Active ingredients can break down after the use-by date, making medicines' normal dosages too weak. Some medicines that are kept too long can form toxic by-products or become tainted by germs.

Syrups and drops generally keep only a few weeks after being opened, so the date of opening should be recorded. They should be discarded after the advised period of safe use. Bandages and dressings, too, should be replaced after their expiry date because they could become unsterile and cause infections in open wounds.

Ideally, medicines should be kept in their original package with their information leaflet.

The best place for a home medicine cabinet, she says, is the living room or a bedroom because humidity there is lower than in the kitchen or a bathroom. In households with children, the cabinet should be lockable.

In addition to prescription drugs for family members, a home medicine cabinet should contain medications for acute ailments such as pain or diarrhea. Other key items include wound dressings such as gauze bandages and compresses as well as a clinical thermometer and tweezers.