Expert: Dr Alan Galbraith - 5/17/2007

Question
Hi, My wife was given Amoxicillin 250 few days ago to treat the UTI, she had been taking it 3 times a day since last Thursday (10-May-2007) (17 capsules). We suddenly noticed on (16-May-2007)  that the medicine has expired in September 2006. We were greatly worried as she is 18weeks pregnant so we rushed to the Hospital and the GPs did BP checks and temperature etc and said the UTI has not gone away as the medicine won't be as effective as it has gone past its expiry date and won't cause any adverse effects on the Unborn. Is this true ? Can we beleive this ?  should we get something done now i.e, scan etc ? any answers is greatly appreciated. And they have now given Amoxicillin 500 within the expiry date (obviously).  

Answer
Dear Muthu

This could have been a serious error with some drugs but with amoxycillin not dangerous in anyway except for inefficacy of the drug. Do not worry about adverse effects on the baby or your wife but you should get an explanation from the pharmacy how this mistake occurred.

Regards

Dr Alan Galbraith