Medicines expiry dates

[ASuperGav]

Is it safe to take Valium,say, 10 years after its expiry date?My girlfriend found some left over and is convinced she can still take them for her forthcoming post grad. finals in Marketing.She says such arbitary dates are all to do with drug company profits and nothing at all to do with safety issues as many medicines are safe and effective many years after their expiry date.

[teag1rl]

I wouldn't recommend it I took some out of date 'kalms' for some public speaking I had to do and fainted mid speech!

[battersby]

I once asked my Gp this question. He said certain tablet's such as Diazapam,Lorazapam etc were ok for up to 4 years after being prescribed and the only drawback was that they would'nt be as potent. I think 10 years is risky AS.