[Does medicine lose its value near the expiration date?]

This is the question raised to the pharmacists by the patients very often. Medicines, being usually not selected by the customers but prescribed for the patients by their physicians are of a special sort of merchandise. As their efficacy is affected even by psychological factors it is necessary to emphasise that the quality and efficacy of medicines are shown to be constant by the date of expiry. In marketing authorization procedure not only the efficacy and safety but also the quality of the medicines are assessed and a special attention is paid to the chemical, physico-chemical and microbiological stability of the products. Detailed documentation on stability together with the good manufacturing practice of the pharmaceutical factories inspected regularly by the authorities and the system of post marketing surveillance assure that medicines do not loose their good quality and consequently their efficacy and safety by the expiry date stated on the label.