Does naloxone expire?
The printed date covers the sealed pack. Once naloxone is opened, mixed or diluted, its label sets a second and usually much shorter limit — quoted below, per product.
Shortest limit on any naloxone label: 24 hours
“Mixtures should be used within 24 hours.”
That applies to the product it is printed on, not to every form of naloxone — check which one you have against the list below.
What the labels say
“Mixtures should be used within 24 hours.”
On the label for NALOXONE HYDROCHLORIDE · DailyMed
How the label says to keep naloxone
Storage is the other half of the question: the stability behind any date assumes these conditions, and a medicine kept outside them ages faster than the calendar says.
- “16 HOW SUPPLIED/STORAGE AND HANDLING Product: 50090-6710 NDC: 50090-6710-0 .”
- “Store at 20° to 25°C (68° to 77°F).”
- “Protect from light.”
- “Store in the carton until contents have been used.”
- “16 HOW SUPPLIED/STORAGE AND HANDLING Product: 50090-2422 NDC: 50090-2422-0 .”
- “Store at 20º to 25ºC (68º to 77ºF) [See USP Controlled Room Temperature].”
- “Store at 20° to 25°C (68° to 77°F) [see USP Controlled Room Temperature].”
- “Store in carton until contents have been used.”
Frequently asked questions
Does naloxone expire?
Two different clocks apply and only one of them is the printed date. The date on a sealed pack is the manufacturer's guarantee for the unopened product. Once it is opened, mixed or diluted, the label imposes its own limit — as tight as 24 hours on some naloxone products, and that is the number quoted on this page.
Can I still use naloxone after the date on the box?
This page cannot tell you that, and nor can any page. The FDA's own shelf-life programme found 88% of tested lots stayed within specification at least a year past expiry — and concluded in the same breath that lot-to-lot variation means this can only be confirmed by testing each lot. What you can check at home is the in-use limit above and whether the product has been stored as the label requires. Ask a pharmacist about a specific pack; they will also dispose of what you no longer need.
Why do different naloxone products have different limits?
Because they are different formulations. A suspension that gets mixed with water, a pen that gets carried at room temperature, and a sealed tablet do not behave alike, so each manufacturer's label sets its own limit and each is shown here with the product it belongs to. We never merge them into one number for the molecule.
More on naloxone
Quoted from FDA labels for reference, not medical advice, and not a suggestion to use anything past its limit. If you are unsure whether a pack is still good, a pharmacist can tell you and can dispose of it safely.