Unit dose medications expiration is what?

• A. 6 months
• B. 1 year from date packaged or sooner if earlier
• C. 2 years
• D. 18 months

Answer: (B)

Unit-dose medications have their expiration date set when they’re put into unit-dose packaging. The standard rule is that the expiry is one year from the date of packaging, unless the manufacturer’s own expiration date is earlier. This keeps the shelf life realistic after the item is repackaged and ensures potency and safety are maintained. So if you repack on a given date, you’d typically use the one-year-from-packaging date unless the original package already shows a sooner date. The other timeframes aren’t the usual practice for unit-dose packaging.