text: is it o.k. to take medicine after it expired 7 months ago? i have a terrible cold and i was wondering if anybody has ever taken antibotics 7 months to a year after it expires. i see that most of the people who answered your question don't watch the news. it was revealed in the past year or so that the expiration dates on prescription and over the counter drugs are far from realistic. florida has just required pharmaceutical companies to put realistic expiration dates on their meds which is almost always many years after the date on the bottle. read the article on the following page. http://news.yahoo.com/s/wesh/20060519/lo_wesh/9238253