When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declared a shortage of EpiPens in May due to manufacturing delays, it left a lot of parents of kids with allergies pretty freaked out. With good reason. Now that it’s back-to-school season, there could be good news for parents who are looking for extra medication while they’re kids are out of their hands: An expired EpiPen might still be safe to use.
The FDA has just issued EpiPen “extended use dates” for specific batches, as well as for the generic Epinephrine Auto-Injector.
That means that the “use by” date on the auto-injector might actually not be valid until four full months later (e.g., a May 2018 EpiPen could be used until September 2018). Check this chart to see if your EpiPen has an extended use date.
Related: The silver lining of the Mylan EpiPen price hike news, from a mom of a child with food allergies.
While your expired EpiPen may still be safe to use after its expiration date, the FDA suggests that if you are able to buy a fresh, new EpiPen, you should use that one instead and toss the old one. But either way, be sure to take a look at your old EpiPens. If yours is discolored or has solid particles floating in it, you should throw it out no matter what the “use by” date may be.
