this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2023
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If poison expires it becomes safer
If medicine expires it becomes poison
In the case of tetracycline antibiotics the degradation products can damage the kidneys and cause Fanconi syndrome. So in that case as a medicine for people it becomes poison, as a poison for bacteria it becomes safer.
Haha that's the case I had in mind!
Not necessarily.
Aspirin yes, paracetamol no.
Some medicine also just becomes less effective, not more dangerous.
What does aspirin degrade to that's harmful?
If you wait long enough does poison expire and become medicine again tho?
If you wait long enough it's no longer a matter of chemistry but of physics. It goes inert and/or it degrades to/along its container.
Someone hire this guy! Nobel material.