What? Pills can sprout?

Everyone knows that potatoes that have sprouted cannot be eaten because they produce solanine, which is harmful to the human body. So, if a medicine has sprouted, can it still be taken? Recently, a photo of a pill "sprouting" has attracted everyone's attention. The pill in the picture has grown a tail that looks like a bean sprout.

Pills are not seeds, so why do they germinate?

Could it possibly bloom and bear fruit?

Could it be that there is something wrong with the quality of the pills?

This series of questions makes everyone very confused. So let's talk about why the pills "sprout".

In fact, the protruding strips of the drug are not true sprouts, nor are they a drug quality problem, and they will not bloom. This situation occurs because the controlled-release tablet uses a special drug manufacturing process called "double-layer osmotic pump technology[]". The upper layer is the drug, and the lower layer is a polymer material with expansion function. When the drug is in a high temperature and high humidity environment, the lower polymer material will expand and squeeze the upper drug out through the drug release hole, just like sprouting.

So, can the sprouted medicine still be eaten?

The germinated medicine has lost its sustained-release effect, so it should not be taken anymore. In order to avoid similar incidents, it is recommended that you store our medicines correctly according to the instructions on the medicine packaging. In daily life, some patients sometimes remove the original packaging of the medicines for the convenience of taking the tablets and put the tablets in transparent medicine boxes. Although it is convenient to take, the sealing of this type of medicine box is relatively poor, especially in humid weather, the medicine is very susceptible to moisture. Therefore, our pharmacist recommends that when taking medicines, it is best to take one pill at a time and leave the rest of the medicines in the original packaging to better preserve the medicines.