Epi Pen Expiration Date?

[deluge]

At work we rotate the first aid kit once a year — a fresh one arrives annually. Before the old kit went into the incinerator, I decided to peek inside, and surprise: several Epi pens! Even better, 18 vials of Hospira SWFI.

The water's expiration was last month. Honestly, that won't stop most people, me included.

The Epi pen, though, is a different matter. There's no expiration date? Also no Mfg date. On the label it reads "Rev. 02-2019-00", but AI says that's merely a "package revision date" and has nothing to do with mfg or exp dates.

What do you think? Could it be good for another year? Right now it's more than a year old, possibly 18 months.

 

[John_C]

That Rev. 02-2019 marking refers to the label revision code rather than a date, so it isn't going to give you much useful information. Typically, the actual expiration is stamped on the carton and also on the side of the auto-injector itself, and EpiPens usually carry only about 12 to 18 months of shelf life starting from when they were manufactured. If a date can't be located, my approach would be to consider them expired and have the kit replaced, because this is a first-aid kit and the entire purpose is that they function at the moment someone requires them.

 

[Shittersfull]

I'd hold onto it. Slap a piece of blue painters tape on it and write "expired 10-10-2026" on the tape. Treat today as the expiration date. It likely still does the job for some time. That beats having nothing. Once you get a newer one, throw it out.