Google AI Is Wrong. Expired Aspirin Will NOT Give You a Stroke

Hallucination by Google Search AI Explained

While tidying up at my mother's home in rural Arkansas' Ozark Mountains, I found two bottles of aspirin, in the same bathroom medicine cabinet.  Maybe I could combine them in to one bottle?

But I noticed - by sight and by taste, that the bottle on the left was considerably older than the one on the right. Does it matter? Does aspirin "expire" or deteriorate in effectiveness with time? It's an acid, so acids probably do weaken over time if there's anything non-acid to interact with.

So I googled "Does Aspirin Expire?"  And Google AI suggests three responses, without links to easily check them out - though there are dates.

First - Aspirin is most effective within five years, and is safe and effective for years after the expiration date on the label - looks very accurate.

Second - OEM Bayer advice that aspirin should be discarded after Bayer's suggestd 2-3 year expiration date. No link to Bayer's study, and no citation of FDA recommendation.  Sure, Bayer wants us to buy more aspirin from them, and may be paying Google to place this "self interested" content.

Third - Insanity.

"Taking expired aspirin could raise your risk of serious health issues, such as stroke". Nov 1, 2022

So it sounds like Google AI is saying that I may have a stroke for taking the older aspirin.  And there's no easy way to see where the AI is getting that, but I eventually found it.

Pharmaceutical Recycling: When 1st World Liability Means 3rd World Shortages

My  wife and I received a mail about a $500-something dollar epipen having reached its expiration date.  It made me curious whether the "obsolescence" of the pharmaceuticals equated to actual risk.

I found a decent 2012 Science-Based-Medicine journal article by Scott Gavura, seeking answers to the question, and found once-again that medical ethics are rich in direction for environmental ethics.  Human Health has been a concern for longer than Environmental Health.

So basically the article says that there is very little risk that expired medicine is bad for you.  It doesn't turn into poison (there was one possible case of that from a medicine that was long ago banned from the market... think of the liability if people died from not reading the date on your label).

When a new medicine is approved by FDA, no Pharma company can afford to then test it by putting it on the shelf for several years to determine its expiration date.  They do run tests on exposure to moisture and light, and use those to predict shelf life.  But like food, an open can of stuff doesn't stay good for as long as a closed can of stuff, so the expiration date is majorly affected by whether it is pre-consumer (unopened at a pharmacy) or post-consumer (excess from a once opened bottle).

And this is hot topic in Waste Policy... see all the national pharma take-back day events this month.