Table 1.

Terrestrial U.S. evidence of drug stability beyond expiration for ISS formulary drugs

Drug	Dosage form	Lots tested	Mean extension (mo)	Extension range (mo)
Lyons et al.11
Amoxicillin	Tablet*	21	23	21–23
Bupivicaine	Injectable solution	3	88	79–95
Ceftriaxone	Injectable powder	4	60	44–69
Ciprofloxacin	Tablet	242	55	12–142
Cimetidine	Tablet	242	55	12–142
Dexamethasone	Injectable solution	7	61	24–93
Diphenhydramine	Injectable solution	12	76	33–126
Doxycycline	Capsule	13	50	37–66
Guaifenesin	ER Tablet	7	85	39–122
Ketamine	Injectable solution	6	64	42–87
Meperidine	Injectable solution	6	89	32–128
Morphine	Injectable solution	13	89	35–119
Naloxone	Injectable solution	10	77	60–95
Phenytoin	Injectable solution	5	63	29–100
Promethazine	Injectable solution	9	51	28–73
Cantrell et al.13
Acetaminophen**	Tablet			336–480
Caffeine**	Tablet			336–480
Caffeine**	Tablet			336–480
Hydrocodone*	Tablet			336–480
Matto et al.12
Doxycycline	Tablet	3	179	144–204
Amoxicillin	Tablet	2	138	132–144

Medications presented were found by indicated studies to be stable beyond package expiration dates in terrestrial conditions. All drugs presented are in the ISS formulary; drugs marked with * are flown in a different formulation than that tested by the terrestrial study. Drugs marked by ** were compounded in a combination medication. Drugs in bold italics were found to be unstable after spaceflight in one or more spaceflight stability studies in contrast to terrestrial study results. The results extracted from Lyons et al.,¹¹ Cantrell et al.,¹³ and Matto et al.;¹² spaceflight stability results extracted from Du et al.,¹⁵ Wotring,¹ and Wu et al.¹⁷

ER extended release