Trouble with getting "fresh" Epi-Pen Jrs

They are required to give you one which expires at least six months later. I don`t think you will find one with an expiration date two years away; I doubt they even keep that long.

Kami's Mom,
Ever since I switched to regular epipens, the expiry date is good for a longer time.
Now that I remember, the jr's were expired early, and depending when you buy them it could be that they are only good for 6 months.
My regular, I bought in Sept and expire Aug 2003 so there you go. If they are keep in ok temp. they should last that long.
Maybe someone can let you know the number of Dey Lab. who make them.

You can get pens at least 18 months out if you hit the brand new production month, but that usually does not happen. There seem to be a lot of local distribution issues. Last time I asked the pharmacy clerk to check her whole stock and we pulled 2 pens with the longest expiration dates out of the "rotation order". I did have to do this on off (non busy) hours at the pharmacy and have to whine. A lot.
I would talk to DEY customer service. The DEY number should be on the insert. They can (if they want to) tell you the date and expiration date of last production run. Then at least you will have some information to use when talking to the pharmacies.

I got two Epi Jr.'s in Dec., 2001. I asked that they order them to get the latest expiration possible. They did, and the epi's expire Jan., 2003. The regular ones do usually come with longer expirations. I bought three of the regular ones for my older daughter in August, 2001, and they are good until August, 2003.
Also, my previous and new health insurance allows the doctor to write one prescription for several epi's (maximum we've had is three on one RX), and I pay one co-pay.
Rachel

Wow, I have been away forever *waving at anyone who might remember me* but I just went through this (again) so I thought I would respond.
I've talked to my Dey representative and she assured me that EpiPen Jrs are manufactured with 18 months until expiration, and that it should be "no problem at all" to find pens with an expiration out at least a year. When I explained that I often need to check 4 or 5 pharmacies before finding pens that fresh, she suggested I tell the pharmacist that they can send their pens back to the distributor for fresher ones at no cost. Okay. We had that discussion the last time I bought pens (this Summer). I asked my local Walmart pharmacist to send their old pens back, and they did, and the new ones expired in a year. Yay!
Now this month I've gone for pens again. (We have two pens for home, and two pens for school, and unfortunately I have the school ones on school-year rotation and the home ones happened to expire this month.) I encountered a different pharmacist at Walmart, had to go through the entire explanation again, he sent the pens back, and when I returned a few days later the pens they'd been sent were just as old as the ones they'd had before! I pay a $20 copay per pen (which burns me up and is another topic altogether) and I refuse to pay for pens that last less than a year. So I went pharmacy hopping again, and 5 pharmacies later I found a Feb. expiration pen at a nearby Target, with other pens on order. I took a chance and got the one pen... I returned today for the second one and guess what? It expires in September. But after I ranted and raved to the pharmacist he told me that if I bring it back in a couple of months he'll swap me for a new one. It's something, I guess.
I'm thinking of calling Dey again, but I'm sure they won't do anything. I guess I'm just hoping that if enough people complain they might actually do something to change their distribution practices. Those things are SO expensive; the least they can do is maximize the product life, you know?
Miriam

I never heard of a pharmacist offering to "exchange" expired epi pens for new ones!!!!
I must say that I am thrilled to throw expired ones out that were not needed!
Has anyone here ever practiced using an expired epi pen on an orange?? I plan to do this with some expired ones, maybe this would be a good way to train teachers, and others that have never used them...

Sorry, double post...
[This message has been edited by SF (edited January 29, 2002).]