Who Uses Chiropractic?

Articles by Dr. Erdman are for informational purposes, and are not to be taken as specific medical advice.

For several years now the chiropractic college I graduated from has done a Gallup Survey of Americans.  This survey is intended to reveal American adults’ experiences with pain and their perceptions/opinions of pharmaceutical treatment versus conservative treatment of their pain.

                This year the survey findings reveal the severity of the epidemic of pain in Americans, particularly the neck and low back, and the opportunity chiropractors have to offer a clear alternative to the opioids and pain pills.

                This survey was conducted in February and March of 2017 and surveyed some 6,305 U.S. adults age 18 and older.  There are four major takeaways found:

Do Prescriptions Really Expire?

Articles by Dr. Erdman are for informational purposes, and are not to be taken as specific medical advice.

Have you ever wondered if that old prescription sitting in your refrigerator is still any good?  You see the expiration date is well past, but it was expensive and you may need it again, right?

If the expiration date has come and gone, is it safe to keep? And for how long? Will it hurt you if you take it “out of date?”

Let’s start with how medication expiration dates came about. There were no expiration dates on medications until 1979. The FDA started requiring dates to “ensure effectiveness.” The generally accepted minimum standard for potency is a concentration of 90% or better.

The term “expiration date” is a real misnomer. The drug companies actually decide the date a drug “expires.” And by “expires”, they mean the date at which they will no longer guarantee its’ effectiveness. They test the drugs initially on one batch of drugs using humidity, temperature, photolysis and oxidation as stressors on the drug. The FDA reviews the data and sets the date. However, the drug makers do not have to do any further testing to establish if the drugs are useable past the date they set.